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Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa

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0000-0003-3005-7174
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Martín-Aragoneses
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María Teresa
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2015 - 201932020 - 20247
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  • Miniatura
    Publicación
    Does reading fluency mediate the relationship between cognitive-linguistic skills and reading comprehension? A study in European Portuguese
    (Elsevier, 2024-08-27) Cadime, Irene ; Freitas, Tânia ; Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; Ribeiro, Iolanda ; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8285-4824; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1209-0763
    Research has consistently revealed the existence of an interconnection between reading comprehension, word reading, reading fluency, vocabulary and rapid naming. The main goal of this study was to explore the possible mediating role of reading fluency in the relationship between reading comprehension and the remaining skills, and to test whether the magnitude of these relationships was similar across different years of schooling. For this purpose, a longitudinal study with two assessment time points was carried out in a sample of 2nd and 3rd graders who were learning to read in European Portuguese, an intermediate-depth orthography. The results evidenced that reading fluency not only directly influences reading comprehension but also plays a mediating role in the relationship between reading comprehension and skills such as word reading and rapid naming. On other hand, the results indicate a unique effect of vocabulary on reading comprehension. Taken together, these results have important implications for educational practice, suggesting that explicit intervention in reading should include both the teaching and training in reading fluency and the construction of a richer lexical repertoire.
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    Living the first years in a pandemic: children’s linguistic development and related factors in and out of the COVID-19 lockdowns
    (Cambridge University Press, 2024-10-28) Cadime, Irene; Santos, Ana Lúcia; Ribeiro, Iolanda; Viana, Fernanda Leopoldina; Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8285-4824; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4758-7462
    This retrospective study provides insights on linguistic development in exceptional circumstances assessing 378 children (between 2;6 and 3;6) who lived their first years during the COVID-19 pandemic and comparing it with normative data collected before this period (CDI-III-PT; Cadime et al., 2021). It investigates the extent to which linguistic development was modulated by a complex set of factors, including sex, maternal education, book reading, language-promoting practices, COVID-19 infection, parental stress and sleeping problems, considering three periods (during lockdowns, out of lockdowns and at present). The results show a substantial negative effect of the pandemic on both lexical and syntactic development. Considering individual variation, structural equation modelling unveiled a complex scenario in which age, sex, book reading, language-promoting practices, sleeping problems and COVID-19 infection showed a direct effect on linguistic development. Maternal education and parental stress had an indirect effect on children’s language, mediated by book reading and sleeping problems, respectively.
  • Miniatura
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    Sentence reading in older adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment: The role of Working Memory and Interference Control
    (John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2020-10-21) Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; Rio Grande, David Pedro del; López Higes, Ramón; Prados, José María; Montejo, Pedro; Delgado Losada, María Luisa
    While language comprehension tends to be well preserved in older adults, the processing and comprehension of syntactically complex sentences might be influenced by age-related changes in Working Memory (WM) and Interference Control (IC). Further, aging can be accompanied by cognitive decline caused by neurological conditions such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), but its impact on on-line sentence processing has rarely been studied. We report a study of word-by-word reading times and comprehension of sentences with different syntactic complexity in young adults (n = 69) and two subgroups of older adults: healthy older adults (n = 32) and older adults with single- and multi-domain amnestic MCI (n = 21). The experimental protocol was based on a self-paced reading task and a variety of neuropsychological measures including Operation Span (WM) and Stroop (IC) tasks. Syntactic complexity was induced using Spanish embedded relative clauses varying subject- versus object-extraction of the antecedent noun phrase (canonical or non-canonical word order, respectively). Moreover, within non-canonical sentences, we distinguished between those that did or did not contain long-distance dependencies between the extracted object and embedded verb. All these manipulations were expected to lead to a gradual recruitment of IC and WM based on the complexity of the sentence structure. Comprehension was similar across groups, with differences explained by WM capacity. In both subgroups of older adults, the on-line processing of object extracted sentences was modulated by their available IC and WM resources, although older adults with MCI seem to recruit WM to a lesser extent. In conclusion, results suggest that IC and WM have a modulatory role in the processing and comprehension of syntactically complex sentences in older adults. Moreover, older adults with MCI seem to be particularly overwhelmed by WM demands during sentence processing and comprehension.
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    Percepciones de los educadores sobre el papel de la neurociencia en educación: resultados de un estudio en España
    (Sociedad Española de Pedagogía (SEP), 2021-10-24) Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; Expósito Casas, Eva; López Martín, Esther; Anaya Nieto, Daniel
    INTRODUCCIÓN. El trabajo en el ámbito educativo se caracteriza por la constante preocupación de sus profesionales acerca de las mejores formas de enseñar y de aprender. En los últimos años, esta inquietud se ha venido reflejando en un interés creciente del profesorado por fundamentar neurocientíficamente sus prácticas educativas. El presente estudio tuvo por finalidad conocer la visión de los educadores españoles en ejercicio sobre el papel de la neurociencia en la educación. MÉTODO. Se diseñó un cuestionario basado en los trabajos previos de Pickering y Howard-Jones (2007) y Serpati y Loughan (2012) y se recabaron, durante ocho cursos académicos, las respuestas de una muestra incidental compuesta por 612 educadores (69.6% mujeres, edad: M = 41.33, DT = 9.75, experiencia: M = 15.17, DT = 10.20) con encuestas completas. RESULTADOS. Los resultados revelan que: 1) el profesorado considera que es muy importante conocer cómo funciona el cerebro para el desempeño de sus tareas docentes, especialmente en relación con la atención a las necesidades educativas especiales o la detección temprana de problemas de aprendizaje; 2) esta visión es independiente de los años de experiencia, pero no de la etapa educativa, siendo el profesorado de educación secundaria el que tiende a conceder una menor importancia a este conocimiento; y 3) se observa una evolución positiva respecto a la importancia concedida a la comprensión del cerebro para la mayoría de los aspectos de la práctica educativa considerados. DISCUSIÓN. Estos hallazgos apoyan la evidencia encontrada en investigación previa y la amplían al analizar las valoraciones otorgadas en función de la etapa educativa y la experiencia, así como al estudiar su evolución durante ocho cursos académicos. Estos resultados se discuten enfatizando el papel de los planes de formación inicial y permanente del profesorado en el uso eficaz de los conocimientos neurocientíficos disponibles en la práctica educativa.
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    Semantic and syntactic reading comprehension strategies used by deaf children with early and late cochlear implantation
    (Elsevier, 2016-02-01) Gallego, Carlos; Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; López-Higes, Ramón; Pisón, Guzmán
    Deaf students have traditionally exhibited reading comprehension difficulties. In recent years, these comprehension problems have been partially offset through cochlear implantation (CI), and the subsequent improvement in spoken language skills. However, the use of cochlear implants has not managed to fully bridge the gap in language and reading between normally hearing (NH) and deaf children, as its efficacy depends on variables such as the age at implant. This study compared the reading comprehension of sentences in 19 children who received a cochlear implant before 24 months of age (early-CI) and 19 who received it after 24 months (late-CI) with a control group of 19 NH children. The task involved completing sentences in which the last word had been omitted. To complete each sentence children had to choose a word from among several alternatives that included one syntactic and two semantic foils in addition to the target word. The results showed that deaf children with late-CI performed this task significantly worse than NH children, while those with early-CI exhibited no significant differences with NH children, except under more demanding processing conditions (long sentences with infrequent target words). Further, the error analysis revealed a preference of deaf students with early-CI for selecting the syntactic foil over a semantic one, which suggests that they draw upon syntactic cues during sentence processing in the same way as NH children do. In contrast, deaf children with late-CI do not appear to use a syntactic strategy, but neither a semantic strategy based on the use of key words, as the literature suggests. Rather, the numerous errors of both kinds that the late-CI group made seem to indicate an inconsistent and erratic response when faced with a lack of comprehension. These findings are discussed in relation to differences in receptive vocabulary and short-term memory and their implications for sentence reading comprehension.
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    Preserved semantic categorical organization in mild cognitive impairment: A network analysis of verbal fluency
    (Elsevier, 2021-07-01) Nevado, Ángel; Rio, David del; Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; Prados, José M.; López Higes, Ramón
    The decline in semantic verbal fluency as we age may originate from both semantic memory degradation and executive function deficits. We investigated to what extent semantic memory is organized into categories in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (n = 81) and healthy controls (n = 83). We obtained the semantic networks automatically from the probability of co-occurrence of words in a verbal fluency test and characterized them with graph-theory tools. We found that the degree of categorical organization was similar for both diagnostic groups, but there was a higher tendency to transition to other categories during word production in the patient group. These results suggest that the semantic network is preserved in mild cognitive impairment, but also that the existing associations are exploited less efficiently during long-term memory search, possibly because of deficits in executive function.
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    Morpho-Syntactic Reading Comprehension in Children With Early and Late Cochlear Implants
    (Oxford University Press, 2015-04-01) López Higes, Ramón; Gallego, Carlos; Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; Melle, Natalie
    This study explores morpho-syntactic reading comprehension in 19 Spanish children who received a cochlear implant (CI) before 24 months of age (early CI [e-CI]) and 19 Spanish children who received a CI after 24 months (late CI [l-CI]). They all were in primary school and were compared to a hearing control (HC) group of 19 children. Tests of perceptual reasoning, working memory, receptive vocabulary, and morpho-syntactic comprehension were used in the assessment. It was observed that while children with l-CI showed a delay, those with e-CI reached a level close to that which was obtained by their control peers in morpho-syntactic comprehension. Thus, results confirm a positive effect of early implantation on morpho-syntactic reading comprehension. Inflectional morphology and simple sentence comprehension were noted to be better in the e-CI group than in the l-CI group. The most important factor in distinguishing between the HC and l-CI groups or the e-CI and l-CI groups was verbal inflectional morphology.
  • Miniatura
    Publicación
    Task Demands and Sentence Reading Comprehension among Healthy Older Adults: The Complementary Roles of Cognitive Reserve and Working Memory
    (MDPI, 2023-03-01) Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; Mejuto, Gema; Rio, David del; Fernandes, Sara Margarida; Rodrigues, Pedro E.S.; López Higes, Ramón
    Ageing entails different functional brain changes. Education, reading experience, and leisure activities, among others, might contribute to the maintenance of cognitive performance among older adults and are conceptualised as proxies for cognitive reserve. However, ageing also conveys a depletion of working memory capacity, which adversely impacts language comprehension. This study investigated how cognitive reserve proxies and working memory jointly predict the performance of healthy older adults in a sentence reading comprehension task, and how their predictive value changes depending on sentence structure and task demands. Cognitively healthy older adults (n = 120) completed a sentence–picture verification task under two conditions: concurrent viewing of the sentence and picture or their sequential presentation, thereby imposing greater demands on working memory. They also completed a questionnaire on cognitive reserve proxies as well as a verbal working memory test. The sentence structure was manipulated by altering the canonical word order and modifying the amount of propositional information. While the cognitive reserve was the main predictor in the concurrent condition, the predictive role of working memory increased under the sequential presentation, particularly for complex sentences. These findings highlight the complementary roles played by cognitive reserve and working memory in the reading comprehension of older adults.
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    Efficacy of Cognitive Training in Older Adults with and without Subjective Cognitive Decline Is Associated with Inhibition Efficiency and Working Memory Span, Not with Cognitive Reserve
    (Frontiers Media, 2018-02-02) López Higes, Ramón; Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; Rubio Valdehita, Susana; Delgado-Losada, María L.; Montejo, Pedro; Montenegro, Mercedes; Prados, José M.; Frutos Lucas, Jaisalmer; López Sanz, David
    The present study explores the role of cognitive reserve, executive functions, and working memory (WM) span, as factors that might explain training outcomes in cognitive status. Eighty-one older adults voluntarily participated in the study, classified either as older adults with subjective cognitive decline or cognitively intact. Each participant underwent a neuropsychological assessment that was conducted both at baseline (entailing cognitive reserve, executive functions, WM span and depressive symptomatology measures, as well as the Mini-Mental State Exam regarding initial cognitive status), and then 6 months later, once each participant had completed the training program (Mini-Mental State Exam at the endpoint). With respect to cognitive status the training program was most beneficial for subjective cognitive decline participants with low efficiency in inhibition at baseline (explaining a 33% of Mini-Mental State Exam total variance), whereas for cognitively intact participants training gains were observed for those who presented lower WM span.
  • Miniatura
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    Executive Functioning in Different Types of Reading Disabilities
    (MDPI, 2024-10-14) Cadime, Irene; Rodrigues, Bruna; Ribeiro, Iolanda; Martín-Aragoneses, María Teresa; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8285-4824; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4201-6719
    Students with reading disabilities form a heterogeneous group: some struggle with accurate and fast reading (dysfluent readers), others with comprehension (poor comprehenders), and some face challenges in both areas (poor readers). Research has indicated a link between executive functioning skills and reading performance; yet, further studies are necessary to fully understand the executive profiles in various types of reading disabilities. The goal of this study was to examine differences in executive functioning among three types of reading disabilities, comparing their performance with that of children without difficulties in either skill (typical readers). Ninety-one students from schools in Portugal participated in the study. The results reveal specific deficits in naming speed and cognitive flexibility in poor readers and dysfluent readers compared to the other groups. Additionally, poor readers exhibited significantly slower processing speed and lower working memory. However, no significant differences were observed in planning. Discriminant function analysis results indicated that the examined executive functions are better at discriminating groups with fluency deficits than those with comprehension difficulties. In conclusion, these results suggest distinct deficit patterns in executive functioning skills across different types of reading disabilities. Taking into account these findings is crucial for effective assessment and intervention with these children.