It is not uncommon for math difficulties and reading difficulties to occur simultaneously. Despite this, math and reading difficulties are thought to have different cognitive profiles where math difficulties are linked to number sense; an innate ability to understand, approximate and manipulate both quantities and numerical information, whereas reading difficulties are linked to phonological ability; an innate ability to understand, create representations of and manipulate phonological information. A possible link between the difficulties is that phonological abilities also could affect mathematical ability. Support for this comes from studies where comorbid math and reading difficulties are associated with more severe difficulties in arithmetic ability compared to those with isolated math difficulties. The purpose of this study is to examine whether isolated math difficulties, isolated reading difficulties and comorbid math and reading difficulties can be linked to deficits in number sense, phonological ability or both of these, and whether comorbid math and reading difficulties differ in performance in mathematical tasks compared to isolated math difficulties for children in second grade. The study was carried out by testing 161 second grade children in arithmetic performance, reading performance, number sense and phonological ability. Based on performance in arithmetic and reading participants were divided into four groups: math difficulties (MD), reading difficulties (LD), comorbid math and reading difficulties (MD/LD) and control group. Statistical comparisons between groups were calculated by use of ANCOVAs, with non-verbal intelligence as covariate, and by independent t-test. Results gave partial support for the proposed core deficits for math and reading difficulties respectively, mainly concerning math difficulties and number sense deficits. The MD group performed significantly poorer in the non-symbolic number sense test.The group LD did not perform significantly poorer in respect to any task. The group MD/LD performed significantly poorer regarding subtraction, symbolic number sense tests and phonological awareness. Based on these results it can be discussed whether a link between number sense deficits and phonological awareness deficits may cause difficulty with learning and manipulating symbolic digit number. / Det är inte ovanligt att matematiksvårigheter förekommer tillsammans med lässvårigheter. Däremot förefaller matematiksvårigheter och lässvårigheter ha skilda kognitiva profiler där matematiksvårigheter kopplas till bristande number sense; en medfödd förmåga för att förstå, approximera och manipulera kvantiteter och numerisk information, medan lässvårigheter kopplas till bristande fonologisk förmåga; en medfödd förmåga att förstå, skapa representationer för och manipulera fonologisk information. En möjlig länk mellan svårigheterna är att fonologisk förmåga även kan påverka den matematiska förmågan. Stöd för detta har framkommit i studier där komorbida matematik- och lässvårigheter kopplats till mer uttalade matematiksvårigheter i jämförelse med isolerade matematiksvårigheter. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka huruvida isolerade matematiksvårigheter, isolerade lässvårigheter samt komorbida matematik- och lässvårigheter kan kopplas till bristande number sense, bristande fonologisk förmåga eller båda samt huruvida komorbida matematik- och lässvårigheter skiljer sig gentemot isolerade matematiksvårigheter gällande matematiksvårigheternas omfattning hos barn i andra klass. För att besvara syftet testades 161 barn i andra klass gällande aritmetisk färdighet, läsfärdighet, number sense och fonologisk förmåga. Efter sin prestation i matematik och läsningdelades deltagarna in i fyra grupper; matematiksvårigheter (MS), lässvårigheter (LS), komorbida matematik- och lässvårigheter (MS/LS) samt kontrollgrupp. Statistiska jämförelser beräknades mellan grupperna genom kovariansanalyser (ANCOVA), med icke-verbal intelligens som kovariat, samt genom oberoende t-test. Resultatet gav delvis stöd för den tänkta kärnproblematiken för matematiksvårigheter respektive lässvårigheter, främst gällande matematiksvårigheter och bristande number sense. Gruppen MS var signifikant sämre på ett icke-symboliskt number sense-test. Gruppen LS var inte signifikant sämre gällande något test. Gruppen MS/LS var signifikant sämre gällande subtraktion och symboliska number sense-test samt gällande fonologisk medvetenhet. Utifrån resultatet diskuteras huruvida en länk mellan bristande number sense och bristande fonologisk medvetenhet kan orsaka svårigheter med inlärning och hantering av symboliska siffertal.

Tidigare forskning har visat att barn med typisk utveckling går från en visuell strategi till en fonologisk. Huruvida denna utveckling sker hos personer med utvecklingsstörning är oklart. De flesta forskare är överens om att dessa personer har en nedsättning i den fonologiska loopen. Om denna nedsättning beror på strukturella avvikelser eller utvecklingsförsening är forskarna inte eniga om. Det är även oklart var en eventuell strukturnedsättning skulle sitta. Studiens syfte var att undersöka om ungdomar med utvecklingsstörning använder sig av en fonologisk strategi, styrd av den fonologiska loopen, vid visuellt presenterat arbetsminnestest. Ordlängdseffekten, spann på bilder, ordproduktionshastighet samt korrelationen mellan de två sistnämnda undersöktes. Resultaten jämfördes mot en mental kontrollgrupp matchad i mental ålder. Ingen av grupperna uppvisade någon ordlängdseffekt på arbetsminnets kapacitetsnivå (spannivå) men den mental åldersmatchade gruppen uppvisade detta på spannivå plus en enhet.  Båda grupperna visade en positiv korrelation mellan spann och ordproduktionshastighet. Det går att diskutera hurvida testning har skett av ordproduktionshastighet eller benämningshastighet. Det är därför svårt att dra slutsatser utifrån resultaten men de skulle kunna tyda på att ungdomarna med utvecklingsstörning använder sig av en annan minnesstrategi än barnen med typisk utveckling. Möjligtvis använder sig ungdomarna med utvecklingsstörning av en fonologisk strategi men spekultioner om eventuell koppling till långtidsminnet eller användning av en visuell strategi tas upp. En förklaring till att de använder sig av en annan strategi skulle kunna vara att de faktiskt har en strukturell nedsättning i någon del av den fonologiska loopen. / Previous research has found that children with typical development begin with a visual memory strategy and then develop a phonological strategy. Whether this development takes place in individuals with intellectual disabilities is unclear. Most researchers agree that they seem to have a deficiency in the phonological loop. Researchers disagree whether the deficiency is caused by a structural deviation or a developmental delay. What is also unclear is where a possible structural deviation would be located. The purpose of this study was to investigate if adolescents with intellectual disabilities use a phonological memory strategy, controlled by the phonological loop, at a visually presented memory span test. Word length effect, span level on pictures, speech rate and the correlation between the latter two was investigated. The results were compared to a control group, matched for mental age. None of the groups showed any word length effect at their working memory capacity level but the control group showed a word length effect at capacity level plus one unit. Both of the groups showed a positive correlation between speech rate and span. It can be discussed whether speech rate or naming speed is tested. Owing to that it is difficult to draw any conclusions from the results. Regardless of what we have tested the results could indicate that the adolescents with intellectual disability use a different memory strategy than the children with typical development. One possible conclusion is that the adolescents with intellectual disability apply a phonological memory strategy but speculations about the use of long-term memory and a visual strategy are also discussed. One explanation could be that adolescents with intellectual disability have a structural deficiency in the phonological loop.

This study examined reading programs in 68 Texas elementary schools that were identified as successful by their scores on TAAS assessment results in the 1999-2000 school year. These schools’ student populations had a high proportion of culturally diverse and low-SES students. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine if and how teaching methods and collaboration (intervention/support teams) were used by effective schools to foster reading success in all students; (2) to identify cohesive patterns (clusters) or models in schools’ use of collaboration and teaching methods; (3) to examine these clusters of similar schools and see if the patterns differed based on the school/community demography (urban, suburban, or rural). The study was conducted in 68 schools in 33 school districts that represented various demographic settings from 12 different Education Service Centers across Texas. From these original 332 variables, 26 variables were selected that were of medium frequency and strongly correlated with high TAAS scores over a 4- year period. These 26 variables were used to examine the 68 high-performing Texas elementary schools for clusters. K-means analysis and HCA were both applied to the 26 response variables, using them as complementary techniques to arrive at a five cluster solution. Results from correlations of individual characteristics and from identifying school clusters suggested that school community type could possibly be moderately predictive of student performance on the TAAS/TAKS over time.

本研究之目的在探討親子共讀對幼兒閱讀能力之影響。使用自編之家長與幼兒共同閱讀問卷，收集有關親子共讀、家長及幼兒背景資料；本研究之幼兒閱讀能力，指幼兒認字能力、故事理解力、聲韻覺識能力，認字與故事理解力方面採用楊怡婷（1995）改編之故事及自編之理解能力測驗，聲韻覺識能力則採用呂珮菁（2004）聲韻覺識測驗，幼兒閱讀能力之資料皆至園所對幼兒施測而得。首先，分析背景資料對幼兒閱讀能力之影響，再比較有無親子共讀家庭中，分別在幼兒在閱讀能力上造成之差異；最後，針對前述有差異的閱讀能力，深入探討具有親子共讀的家庭裡，共讀的互動方式與閱讀能力間的關係。 研究結果為: 性別對幼兒的閱讀能力並沒有影響。亦發現學英語的幼兒在聲韻覺識作業細項中的中文聲母刪除作業及英文音素刪除作業表現較佳。在家長教育程度與職業在幼兒閱讀能力上沒有顯著差異。關於有無親子共讀對幼兒閱讀能力之影響，結果為：具有親子共讀的幼兒在故事理解力表現較無親子共讀者顯著為佳。 針對故事理解能力，家長共讀與此能力間的相關行為有：對於故事內容進行描述教導與推論教導，其中，描述教導的具體行為有「給予描述或指名」、「要求孩子描述或指名」、「要求孩子預測劇情」、「戲劇化表達」；推論教導的具體行為有「常問為什麼」、「與孩子討論因果關係」，這些都可以增進幼兒對故事的瞭解以及作出高層次認知的思考，基於研究結果之建議，文中有詳細討論。 / This thesis investigates the influence of parent to the literacy of their young child through sharing books with their child. Parents were requested to fill out the questionnaires about joint book reading and children were assessed their literacy which includes word recognition, story comprehension, and phonological awareness. The sample (n= 53) included 40 patents who have joint book reading and 13 parents who do not. The first step of this thesis is to compare with children literacy between children whose parents have joint book reading and children whose parents do not. Children with sharing book by parents only have better achievement in story comprehension than those who without joint book reading. Thus, the second step of this thesis is to find out what kind of parents’ utterances during joint book reading is related to the story comprehension of children and these utterances may improve the story comprehension of children. The utterances which are related to the story comprehension of children are following: 1. Labels: Parents request or provide character identification, labeling of objects, and so on. 2. Descriptions: Parents request or provide an explanation of plot information and focus on what has happened or is happening. Inference: Parents request predictions about why has happened in the story and discuss the causality in the story with their children.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanics with which older adults activate and access different subdomains of their mental lexicons during word retrieval for picture naming. Method: Data were analyzed for 12 aging, native English speakers who performed a picture-word priming task. The auditory probe words were presented in the following conditions in relation to the picture stimuli: Identically related, strongly semantically related, weakly semantically related, strongly phonologically related, weakly phonologically related, semantically related to the strong phonological relative of the target picture label, or phonologically-related to the strong semantic relative of the target picture label. Event related potentials were used to measure picture-word priming effects. Results: Three main results were observed. First, our healthy aging adult participants evidenced strong activation of whole-word phonological representations as well as rhyme representations of target picture labels, but weakened activation of initial phoneme information. Second, they processed semantic information robustly. Finally, our participants appeared to experience phonological competition when accessing target picture labels. Conclusion: Results from this study suggest that healthy aging adults maintain efficient access to whole-word phonological representations, rhyme representations, and conceptual-semantic representations of target picture labels. However, in line with previously-reported findings, they do seem to evidence limited activation of initial phonological information on the path to picture naming.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether blind individuals display cognitive advantages over sighted individuals with regard to second language acquisition. Previous studies from neuropsychology have indicated that this is the case. It has been found that blind L1 speakers can compensate for loss of vision by developing better perceptual and cognitive skills compared to sighted individuals, skills that are highly relevant to language acquisition. These studies do not, however, investigate blind L2 speakers, for whom it is not clear whether these advantages are also found.  In all, 80 adults participated in the study: 40 L2 speakers of Swedish (11 early blind, 9 late blind, 20 sighted, AO<18) and a matching group and subgroups of L1 speakers. These speakers underwent tests on speech perception in noise, accentedness in an L2 and memory functions. The results revealed that L2 speakers are at a great disadvantage perceiving speech in noise compared to L1 speakers, and that there was no advantage associated with blindness. In the L1 speakers group, however, the results revealed that the early blind had advantages compared to the late blind and sighted in white noise, but that both blind groups were more negatively affected by babble noise than the sighted. The results in relation to accentedness in an L2 revealed that there were no advantages associated with blindness. The results further revealed there were no advantages associated with blindness on the episodic memory test. The results did, however, reveal that the early blind performed significantly better than the late blind and sighted on all phonological short-term memory tests and that both the early and late blind were significantly better than the sighted on recognition memory for new words, irrespective of language background. The conclusion is that blindness is associated with advantages in, for example, ability to learn new words and syntax, acquisition rate, ultimate L2 attainment, and language aptitude.

This study examined the effects of a parent-led intervention focused on developing children's early literacy skills within the home setting. The lesson plans contain scripted steps for completing activities to teach letter names and phonological awareness skills. Archival data were analyzed from a study conducted with 26 families from three Head Start centers. Thirteen families completed the intervention and thirteen families were enrolled in a control condition which provided information on shared reading strategies. Children in the intervention group performed at statistically significant higher levels on measures of letter naming, phonological awareness, vocabulary/oral language, and comprehension. Parents rated both the intervention and control conditions as highly acceptable. Most parents (n= 10) within the intervention group completed the vast majority of the lesson plans. Changes within the home revealed that parents in both groups engaged in the same types of early learning activities, but that parents in the intervention group reported engaging in these activities more frequently than the control group. This study contributes to the literature by creating a method of parental involvement in preschool targeting phonological awareness and letter naming abilities.

The present thesis belongs to the research area disability research and deal with specific aspects of cognition in individuals with Usher syndrome type 1 and 2. The subject has been investigated and is discussed within an interdisciplinary framework, though the theories applied and described are derived from the area of cognitive psychology. Usher syndrome is a rare genetic condition causing a combination of visual and hearing impairment: deafblindness. There is a congenital hearing loss that is profound in type 1 and moderate to severe in type 2. During mid-childhood symptoms of visual impairment, e.g. light sensitivity, emerge and a progressive loss of visual field follows as a result of the genetically caused eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa. The syndrome has previously been well described with respect to the genetical and medical aspects, but there has been very little research with a cognitive perspective on the population. Studies 1 and 2 in the present thesis focused on children with Usher syndrome type 1 with cochlear implants and investigated phonological skills, lexical access, working memory and reading skill in the group. Studies 3 & 4 investigated the same cognitive abilities and theory of mind in adults with Usher syndrome type 2. In study 4 the performance on theory of mind in the adults with Usher syndrome type 2 was also compared to that of another group with genetically caused deafblindness: individuals with Alström syndrome. The results were that both the children and adults with Usher syndrome had significantly poorer phonological processing than the control groups with normal hearing. There was a large variation on performance on lexical access, especially in the group of children, however several individuals performed at the same level as the control group. Reading skill was found to be at level with the control groups’. There was also great variation in performance on ToM, however the majority of individuals performed similar to the control group with normal hearing and vision. The present project has resulted in some new knowledge on cognitive performance in  individuals with Usher syndrome type 1 and type 2. Performance in the participants with Usher syndrome can to a large extent can be understood by application of the models developed in previous research on populations with hearing impairment or deafness for understanding the impact of hearing with a hearing aid or cochlear implant. However, individuals with Usher syndrome experience additional difficulties in accessing information due to the progressive visual loss and the impact this has on performance is still largely unknown. Hence, the present project would recommend that interventions and support would be designed specifically to each individuals’ needs, with consideration of both the visual impairment and the hearing impairment. / Föreliggande avhandling tillhör ämnet handikappvetenskap och beskriver specifika kognitiva förmågor hos personer med Ushers syndrom typ 1 och 2. Avhandlingens ämne har undersökts utifrån ett tvärvetenskapligt perspektiv, även om de teorier som tillämpas och beskrivs huvudsakligen härrör inom området kognitiv psykologi. Ushers syndrom är en ovanlig genetisk åkomma som leder till kombinationen av syn- och hörselnedsättning: dövblindhet. Individer med typ 1 av syndromet har medfödd dövhet medan individer med typ 2 har en medfödd måttlig till grav hörselnedsättning. Någon gång i åldrarna 6-10 år börjar de första symptomen, till exempel nedsatt mörkerseende, på den genetiskt betingade progressiva synnedsättningen Retinitis Pigmentosa att framträda. Syndromet är väl beskrivet i forskningen med avseende på genetiska och medicinska aspekter, men det finns extremt lite tidigare forskning med kognitivt perspektiv om populationen. Studierna 1 och 2 i föreliggande avhandling fokuserade på barn med Ushers syndrom typ 1 och cochleaimplantat. Dessa studier undersökte fonologisk förmåga, lexikal access, arbetsminne och läsning i gruppen. Studie 3 undersökte samma kognitiva förmågor hos vuxna med typ 2 av syndromet. I studie 4 undersöktes även den sammansatta förmågan Theory of Mind hos de vuxna med typ 2 och deras prestation jämfördes både mot en kontroll grupp med normal hörsel och syn och en kontrollgrupp med annan typ av dövblindhet; Alström syndrom. Resultaten visade att både barnen och de vuxna med Ushers syndrom hade signifikant sämre fonologisk förmåga än kontrollgruppen med normal hörsel. Nivån på prestation varierade stort inom grupperna, särskilt mellan barnen med typ 1, och flera av individerna (barn och vuxna) presterade trots hörselnedsättningen på samma nivå som de normalhörande. Läsfärdigheten befanns vara i nivå med kontrollgrupperna. I den vuxna gruppen var det stor variation i prestation även på Theory of Mind, men de flesta av individerna presterade liknande som kontrollgruppen med normal hörsel och syn. Föreliggande projekt har resulterat i lite mer kunskap om kognitiva färdigheter hos individer med Ushers syndrom typ 1 och 2. De resultat som individerna med Ushers syndrome presterade kan till stor del förstås och tolkas genom tillämpning av teorier och modeller utvecklade för att den inverkan på kognitiva förmågor det har att ha nedsatt hörsel och höra med hjälp av hörselapparat eller cochleaimplantat. Dock tyder fynden i detta projekt även på att individer med Ushers syndrom på grund av den allvarliga synnedsättningen har ytterligare svårigheter att få tillgodogöra sig information, men i vilken utsträckning och på vilket sätt är ännu inte beskrivet. Utifrån fynden i föreliggande studie blev rekommendation att interventioner och stöd till personer med Ushers syndrom utformas specifikt till varje individ, med hänsyn taget både till hens grad av synnedsättning och hörselnedsättning.

Στην παρούσα εργασία μελετήθηκε το θέμα της φωνηεντικής ιεραρχίας στην Ελληνική και τις διαλέκτους της και ο ρόλος της στην αντιμετώπιση της χασμωδίας. Η χασμωδία δημιουργείται στην ελληνική λόγω της γειτνίασης φωνηέντων και λύνεται μέσω φωνολογικών διαδικασιών όπως η έκθλιψη, η αφαίρεση, η εισαγωγή / επένθεση, η συνίζηση, η τροπή, η φωνηεντική αρμονία, η αφομοίωση κ.ά.Υπάρχουν όπως αναφέρθηκε μέσω και παραδειγμάτων και οι περιπτώσεις διατήρησης της χασμωδίας. Εξετάσαμε την κλίμακα ηχηρότητας η οποία καθορίζει τον ισχυρό ή ασθενή χαρακτήρα του φωνήεντος ανάλογα με τη θέση που κατέχει στην εν λόγω κλίμακα. Το ποιο από τα φωνήεντα θα φύγει εξαρτάται από τη θέση που κατέχει στην κλίμακα ισχύος ή κλίμακα ηχηρότητας. Η εν λόγω κλίμακα καθορίζεται ως η ακόλουθη: a > o > u > e > i ή i > e. Εξετάσαμε επίσης τον τρόπο με τον οποίο η ισχύς αυτή επηρεάζεται από διάφορους παράγοντες όπως η σύνταξη, το είδος του λόγου, ο τόνος, ο βαθμός ανοίγματος των φωνηέντων, η θέση τους στη λέξη, ο τόπος άρθρωσής τους, το λόγιο στοιχείο, ο μορφολογικός ρόλος, η σημασιολογία καθώς και ο παράγοντας σύνθεση, και επομένως είναι αυτοί οι παράγοντες βάσει της έρευνάς μας και πάντα με βάση τα δεδομένα που έχουμε στη διάθεσή μας που φαίνεται ότι καθορίζουν την ισχύ ή όχι της ιεραρχίας και τη διατήρηση ή όχι του φαινομένου της χασμωδίας. Επίσης αναφέρθηκε ότι και στα αρχαία ελληνικά αλλά και σε διαλέκτους της ελληνικής συμβαίνουν διαδικασίες φωνολογικές με σκοπό την αντιμετώπιση της χασμωδίας - ενώ παρατηρούμε ταυτόχρονα ότι αυτό δεν συμβαίνει πάντα με αποτέλεσμα να έχουμε και διατήρηση της χασμωδίας. Αναφέρονται παραδείγματα - όσο αυτό είναι δυνατό μέσα από την έρευνα και τις πηγές - ούτως ώστε μέσα πάντα από τα ίδια τα γλωσσολογικά δεδομένα, μέσα από τα κείμενα, να αποδεικνύεται κατά πόσον ισχύουν οι κανόνες και οι θεωρητικές θέσεις. Ξεκινούμε λοιπόν από τη μια μεριά από τις θεωρητικές θέσεις, τους κανόνες και από την άλλη όμως ταυτόχρονα αντλούμε πληροφορίες για το βαθμό εφαρμογής τους από τα ίδια τα γλωσσικά δεδομένα της ελληνικής και των διαλέκτων και από δεδομένα σε παλαιότερες χρονικές φάσεις αποδεικνύοντας μέσα από αυτό και μέσα από την κανονικότητα των φαινομένων διαχρονικά, τη συνέχεια της γλώσσας μας. / The present study explores the validity of vowel hierarchy in Greek and its dialects, as well as its role in dealing with hiatus. Hiatus emerges in adjacent vowels and it is resolved through phonological processes such as vowel deletion, vowel epenthesis, fusion, substitution, vowel harmony, assimilation etc., though there are instances in which hiatus is retained. The Sonority Scale (SS) is also investigated given that the (SS) determines the strong or weak status of the vowel, which, in turn, is driven by the position of the vowel in the SS. In other words, vowel loss is governed by its degree of sonority. In most, studies the vowel SS is considered to be the following: a > o > u > e > i ή i > e. Moreover, we examined the extent to which vowel sonority and the SS are circumscribed by other extra-phonological and phonological factors, such as the syntax, the semantics and the morphology of the language, the general linguistic context, the position of the vowels on the vowel space/ triangle, as well as their place of articulation. Additionally, we discuss phonological processes which repair hiatus occuring in Ancient Greek and its dialects and we test the conditions under which this happens. We present interesting data which lead us to adopt specific theoretical approaches regarding the vowel hierarchy. Finally, we evaluate the validity of the vowel hierarchy in the diachrony of Greek.

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