No description available.

Submitted by Mayara Borkowske Pestana (maybope@gmail.com) on 2018-05-15T18:50:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_final_MAYARA.pdf: 1567670 bytes, checksum: 6fc6d094e074be28aec5d0fecb80d85b (MD5) / Rejected by Adriana Aparecida Puerta null (dripuerta@rc.unesp.br), reason: Prezada Mayara, O documento enviado para a coleção Instituto de Biociências Rio Claro foi recusado pelo(s) seguinte(s) motivo(s): - Falta a ficha catalográfica, que deve ser solicitada pelo site da biblioteca da Unesp de Rio Claro e inserida após a folha de rosto no arquivo pdf e no verso da folha de rosto na versão impressa. - Falta a folha de aprovação, que deve ser solicitada à Seção de Pós-Graduação e deve ser inserida após a ficha catalográfica. O documento enviado não foi excluído. Para revisá-lo e realizar uma nova tentativa de envio, acesse: https://repositorio.unesp.br/mydspace Em caso de dúvidas entre em contato pelo email repositoriounesp@reitoria.unesp.br. Agradecemos a compreensão e aguardamos o envio do novo arquivo. Atenciosamente, Biblioteca Campus Rio Claro Repositório Institucional UNESP https://repositorio.unesp.br on 2018-05-16T17:32:17Z (GMT) / Submitted by Mayara Borkowske Pestana (maybope@gmail.com) on 2018-05-21T15:38:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_completa_mayara.pdf: 1918627 bytes, checksum: 6d8c1ccfa181d38e5ff27a3ae3a3ce40 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Santulo Custódio de Medeiros null (asantulo@rc.unesp.br) on 2018-05-22T12:02:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 pestana_mb_me_rcla.pdf: 1594577 bytes, checksum: ba17e6e3e3d9467b6639bffcea05350f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-22T12:02:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pestana_mb_me_rcla.pdf: 1594577 bytes, checksum: ba17e6e3e3d9467b6639bffcea05350f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-14 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / A doença de Parkinson (DP) é a segunda doença neurodegenerativa mais comum, que acomete aproximadamente 0,3% da população mundial. A morte dos neurônios dopaminérgicos na substância negra leva aos seus sinais/sintomas motores característicos da DP. Além dos sinais/sintomas motores destacam-se também os não motores como alterações de humor, cognição, ansiedade e depressão. As alterações cognitivas incluem comprometimentos das funções executivas e da memória de trabalho (MT) verbal e visuoespacial. Déficits na MT visuoespacial parecem estar associados aos comprometimentos do andar em pacientes com DP, principalmente no início do andar, porém esta relação ainda é pouco conhecida. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar o impacto da MT no posicionamento do pé em alvos com diferentes tempos para iniciar o andar em pacientes com DP e idosos neurologicamente sadios (NS). Participaram do estudo 20 idosos com DP e 18 NS avaliados quanto à função cognitiva geral, capacidade de armazenamento na MT e central executiva da MT por meio dos testes Digit Span, Blocos de Corsi e Clox I e II. A tarefa foi realizada sob condições que combinaram o tempo para início do andar (250ms, 500ms, 1s ou 2s) após a exposição inicial do alvo (5s) e a localização do alvo (direita, esquerda e central). Para a análise cinemática, o sistema optoeletrônico capturou as trajetórias dos emissores infravermelhos que foram fixados no pé direito dos participantes. A estatística descritiva (média ± desvio ou erro padrão) foi empregada para a apresentação das variáveis de caracterização dos grupos e das variáveis dependentes. Na análise estatística foram utilizados os testes de Shapiro-Wilk e de Levene para verificar a normalidade e a homogeneidade dos dados. Para a comparação entre os grupos, testes t para amostras independentes (idade, massa corporal e estatura) e o teste U de Mann-Whitney (variáveis cognitivas) foram empregados. Para o erro absoluto, erro variável e erro constante foram realizadas ANOVAS two-way (grupo X condição), com medidas repetidas para condição. O teste de Bonferroni foi empregado para localizar possíveis diferenças significativas. Os grupos não apresentaram diferença significativa para idade, peso e altura. Nas variáveis cognitivas apenas encontrou-se diferença no MEEM. Para variáveis de posicionamento do pé sobre o alvo, ausência de efeito principal de grupo (GDP X GC) e de interação entre grupo e os fatores de tempo e posição do alvo para os três erros. No sentido médio-lateral, os participantes apresentaram menor erro absoluto e maior erro variável para o alvo posicionado à esquerda, nas condições de 250ms e 2s. Ainda, para o alvo posicionado à direita, observou-se maior erro constante anteroposterior e médio-lateral comparados aos outros alvos. Na condição de maior tempo, 2s, os participantes posicionaram o pé antes do alvo em comparação ao tempo de 500ms, indicado pelo maior erro constante nesta condição. Os participantes apresentaram menor erro absoluto médio-lateral na condição de tempo de 1s e erro absoluto anteroposterior na condição de tempo de 2s para o alvo posicionado no centro nas condições com maior tempo. Finalmente, não houve correlação entre as variáveis de (erro absoluto, constante e variável) com a capacidade de armazenamento de informações verbais e visuoespaciais e os processos de controle executivo da MT. Concluindo-se que pacientes com DP e idosos NS apresentam desempenho semelhante ao posicionar o pé sobre o alvo. Quando os alvos estão posicionados lateralmente, o desempenho da tarefa é prejudicado, principalmente no alvo da esquerda, diminuindo a acurácia e a precisão. Ainda, tempos muito longos (2s) ou curtos (250ms) parecem influenciar negativamente no desempenho da tarefa devido ao longo tempo de armazenamento da informação visual e curto tempo para a realização da ação motora, respectivamente. / Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting approximately 0.3% of the world's population. The death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra leads to the characteristic motor signals/symptoms in PD. Additionally, patients also show non-motor signs/symptoms such as impairments in mood, cognition, anxiety and depression. The cognitive changes are dependent on executive functions and among them are a verbal and visuospatial (WM) working memory. Deficits in visuospatial WM seem to be associated with gait impairment in patients with PD, especially in gait initiation, but this relationship is still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of visuospatial WM on foot positioning on targets with different intervals to star walking after target exposure in patients with PD (PDG) and neurologically healthy (NH) older adults. Participants were 20 older adults with PD and 18 NH older adults (CG) who were assessed in regard to general cognitive function, storage capacity in WM and central executive of WM by means of the Span Digit, Corsi Blocks and Clox I and II tests. The experimental task was performed under conditions that combined the time to start walking (250ms, 500ms, 1s or 2s) after the initial target exposure target location (right, left and center). For kinematic analysis, the optoelectronic system captured trajectories of the infrared emitters that were fixed in the right foot of the participants. Descriptive statistic (mean ± standard deviation or error) was used to present variables for characterization of groups and dependent variables. In the statistical analysis of the Shapiro-Wilk and Levene test instruments to verify the normality and the homogeneity of the data. For a comparison between groups, testis for independent samples (age, body mass and stature) and Mann-Whitney test (cognitive variables) and employed. For absolute error, variable error and constant error, we performed two-way ANOVAs (group X condition), with repeated measures for the condition. The Bonferroni test was used to find possible significant differences. The groups did not present significant differences for age, weight and height. For the cognitive variables, we found significant difference for MEEM only, with PDG presenting lower score than the CG. For foot positioning variables, absence of main group effect (PGD X CG) and interaction between group and time and target position factors for the three errors. In the mid-lateral direction, the participants presented lower absolute error and greater variable error for the target positioned to the left, in the conditions of 250ms and 2s. Also, for the right-positioned target, greater anteroposterior and mid-lateral constant error were observed compared to the others targets. For longer time condition, 2s, participants positioned the foot before the target compared to the time of 500ms, indicated by the largest constant error in this condition. The participants presented lower absolute mid-lateral error in the 1s time condition and anteroposterior absolute error in the time condition of 2s for the target positioned in the center in the conditions with greater time. Finally, there was no correlation between the variables (absolute, constant and variable error) with the storage capacity of verbal and visuospatial information and the processes of executive control of WM. It was concluded that patients with PD and NH older people present similar performance for foot positioning. When the targets are positioned laterally, the performance of the task is impaired, especially in the left target, decreasing the precision and accuracy. Also, very long (2s) or short times (250ms) seem to negatively influence the performance of the task due to the long storage time of the visual information and short time to perform the motor action, respectively. / CNPq: 134414/2015-2

<p dir="ltr">Spatial navigation is a complex skill that relies on many aspects of cognition. The following</p><p dir="ltr">studies aimed to clarify the role of working memory in spatial navigation, and particularly, the</p><p dir="ltr">potentially differential contributions of verbal and visuospatial working memory. Study 1</p><p dir="ltr">leveraged individual differences to understand how working memory differs among types of</p><p dir="ltr">navigators and the predictiveness of verbal and visuospatial working memory. Participants</p><p dir="ltr">completed multiple measures of verbal and visuospatial working memory and spatial navigation.</p><p dir="ltr">Study 2 further evaluated the impact of a working memory load on spatial navigation performance.</p><p dir="ltr">Using a dual-task paradigm, the decrement (or not) of performance on spatial navigation can be</p><p dir="ltr">compared between control, verbal, and visuospatial conditions. Study 1 showed that individual</p><p dir="ltr">differences in visuospatial working memory are more predictive than verbal working memory.</p><p dir="ltr">However, Study 2 provides evidence for the necessary role for both verbal and visuospatial</p><p dir="ltr">working memory.</p>

No description available.

According to cognitive psychologists, consistent practice (i.e., tasks with a high degree of similarity) of a skill leads to the development of automaticity, with the degree of automatization being increased if the practice also involves exact repetition. Practice is skill specific, meaning that practicing one skill does not automatize related skills. Once achieved, automaticity has been characterized as the ability to perform a primary task with little interference from performing a concurrent secondary task. A second key characteristic of skill automatization is that it involves a gradual decrease in executive working memory (EWM) demands. The primary purpose of this study is to examine whether such claims put forth by cognitive psychologists are transferable to the automatization of second language (L2) bottom-up listening skills. The secondary purpose of this study is to explore whether reading while listening promotes listening automaticity to a greater extent than listening only, as has been argued in the L2 literature (Chang, 2011; Chang & Millett, 2014; Chang and Millett, 2016; Chang et al., 2018). The third purpose of this study is to examine whether visuospatial working memory (VWM) is a predictor of listening automaticity growth and to what degree it is related to EWM.Although L2 listening is regarded as a cognitive skill, the automatization of L2 listening has not been researched as described by cognitive psychologists. That is, using dual tasks and a reduction in EWM involvement as indices of automaticity, and providing consistent practice with an exact repetition component. In addition, the existing research into the question surrounding what kind of practice is more effective in bringing about L2 listening automaticity –listening while reading or listening only¬– has methodological flaws that have led to an inconclusive answer. To fill these gaps in the literature, I designed a listening-while-reading and a listening-only intervention that blended elements claimed to be conducive to automaticity development in cognitive psychology and L2 research, namely consistent training and exact repetition of stimuli and time pressure, while taking into account the methodological issues of previous L2 research. Data were collected from 290 Japanese high school students, who were assigned to the listening-while-reading, the listening-only, or a control group. Participants in the listening-only intervention listened to texts composed of a narrow range of vocabulary and grammar structures, which warranted consistency, whose speech rates increased by 10 words per minute (wpm) over the sessions from 100 wpm to 180 wpm. The listening-while-reading intervention involved listening to the same texts while reading the transcripts. Exact repetition of the stimuli was provided in both interventions by playing the texts two consecutive times in each intervention session. After the second listening, comprehension was assessed using a Japanese summary of the texts and a set of five multiple-choice questions. Degree of automatization was measured at three time points (i.e., Pretest, Posttest 1, and Posttest 2) separated by two cycles of training, through two dual tasks at each time point. The dual tasks, which consisted of listening to a text delivered at 160 wpm while drawing a series of vertical lines on blank paper and were followed by the abovementioned comprehension measures, were used to construct measures of automaticity. Dual-task data were linked through a Rasch longitudinal design, keeping text difficulty invariant across the dual tasks, with Rasch person measures for comprehension for subsequent analyses computed by combining scores on summaries and multiple-choice questions, while giving double weight to the summaries. Regarding the memory constructs, EWM was assessed through a speaking and a listening span task, whose scores were combined into a global EWM Rasch measure that was used in the analyses to test if the participants’ EWM costs diminished over time. Similarly, a single VWM Rasch measure was calculated by combining the participants’ scores on the Mr. Peanut task (DeAvila, 1974), which assesses visual memory, and the Corsi block span task (Corsi, 1972), which assesses spatial memory, as additional predictors of L2 listening automaticity. To my knowledge, measures of VWM have not previously been employed as predictors of listening ability. Results from a repeated-measures ANOVA and a multi-group latent growth model indicated that both intervention groups automatized their listening skills to a greater extent than the control group with the listening-only group developing automaticity to the largest extent. Although a reduction of EWM demands was not observed, possibly because the participants were not complete beginners and might have started the study with some degree of automaticity, the fact that they could perform the dual tasks less effortfully over time evidenced automatization. Interestingly, VWM significantly predicted growth in listening automaticity, which was interpreted to mean that as listeners automatize their listening skills, they become able to see what they hear. This result was explained in terms of attentional capacity limits, where higher-level processes, such as visualizing input, cannot be achieved until the lower-level processes such as word recognition or grammatical parsing have been automatized. Follow-up qualitative interviews corroborated the quantitative findings and extended them by suggesting that a small number of training sessions might be sufficient to develop listening automaticity. Results of an additional correlation analysis further showed that VWM and EWM are not highly related as has been shown by some experimental evidence in the working memory literature. The finding that listening only was superior to listening while reading is important because it contradicts previous research and suggests that to automatize listening, one needs to practice in real-operating conditions. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. First, listening to texts whose speech rates increase over the practice sessions promotes listening automaticity. Next, claims by cognitive psychologists regarding the development of skill automaticity are largely generalizable to the natural conditions of classroom-based research focusing on the acquisition of real-world skills such as L2 listening. Last, the multi-component versus the unitary view of working memory. / Applied Linguistics