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Iso-Ahola SE. A theory of the skill-performance relationship. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1296014. [PMID: 38406307 PMCID: PMC10884260 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1296014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
The skill-performance relationship is a cornerstone of a meritocratic society. People are selected for schools, colleges and jobs based on the premise that more skillful individuals perform better. Scientific understanding of the skill-performance relationship demands that the effect of skill on performance is objectively assessed without subjective, social, and political considerations. One of the best areas for this analysis is sports. In many sports settings, the skill-performance relationship can objectively be examined at the technical, behavioral, psychological, and neurological levels. This examination reveals that skill and performance are inextricably intertwined. While skill affects performance, performance in turn defines and affects skill. To disentangle the previously confusing and interchangeable use of these key constructs, the paper presents a theoretical model specifying that ability and effort have their own direct effects on performance, as well as indirect effects on performance through skill possession and skill execution in cognitive and physical domains of human performance. Thus, ability and skill are not the same. Although skill is a key determinant of performance, recent theory and research suggests that successful performers are successful not just because of their skills per se, but because they take advantage of their skills by creating more occurrences of momentum, making them last longer, and using them to bounce back faster from streaks of unsuccessful performance. Thus, momentum is an important mediator of the effects of skill on performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seppo E. Iso-Ahola
- Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
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Artuso C, Belacchi C. Implicit Grammatical Gender Representation in Italian Children with Autism without Intellectual/Language Disorder. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1737. [PMID: 38002828 PMCID: PMC10670017 DOI: 10.3390/children10111737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
Grammatical language development in individuals with autism (without intellectual/language impairment) is mostly qualitatively comparable to language development in typically developing children of the same age. The majority of tasks used to study grammatical development require explicit performance (use of verbal language). Here, we administered an implicit categorization task (by biological sex) to understand which markers children use to implicitly infer grammatical gender representation in Italian (a gendered language where grammatical gender can be inferred via a determiner and/or word ending). Participants were asked to categorize photos of animals, relying on the names that differed in regard to the grammatical markers involved (i.e., lexical semantic, phonological, syntactic or phonological + syntactic). Children with autism displayed the same patterns observed in typically developing children: the lexical-semantic marker was categorized more accurately, followed in decreasing order by the phonological-syntactic marker and the phonological marker. The syntactic marker was the most difficult to categorize for both groups. In addition, children with autism showed an advantage in grammatical gender representation when using formal/grammatical markers than when using lexical/semantic markers. Such an implicit assessment allows for the investigation of more nuanced linguistic representations other than those expressed by traditional assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caterina Artuso
- Department of Education, University of Genova, 16128 Genova, Italy
| | - Carmen Belacchi
- Department of Communication, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029 Urbino, Italy;
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Manrique HM, Walker MJ. To copy or not to copy? That is the question! From chimpanzees to the foundation of human technological culture. Phys Life Rev 2023; 45:6-24. [PMID: 36931123 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Abstract
A prerequisite for copying innovative behaviour faithfully is the capacity of observers' brains, regarded as 'hierarchically mechanistic minds', to overcome cognitive 'surprisal' (see 2.), by maximising the evidence for their internal models, through active inference. Unlike modern humans, chimpanzees and other great apes show considerable limitations in their ability, or 'Zone of Bounded Surprisal', to overcome cognitive surprisal induced by innovative or unorthodox behaviour that rarely, therefore, is copied precisely or accurately. Most can copy adequately what is within their phenotypically habitual behavioural repertoire, in which technology plays scant part. Widespread intra- and intergenerational social transmission of complex technological innovations is not a hall-mark of great-ape taxa. 3 Ma, precursors of the genus Homo made stone artefacts, and stone-flaking likely was habitual before 2 Ma. After that time, early Homo erectus has left traces of technological innovations, though faithful copying of these and their intra- and intergenerational social transmission were rare before 1 Ma. This likely owed to a cerebral infrastructure of interconnected neuronal systems more limited than ours. Brains were smaller in size than ours, and cerebral neuronal systems ceased to develop when early Homo erectus attained full adult maturity by the mid-teen years, whereas its development continues until our mid-twenties nowadays. Pleistocene Homo underwent remarkable evolutionary adaptation of neurobiological propensities, and cerebral aspects are discussed that, it is proposed here, plausibly, were fundamental for faithful copying, which underpinned social transmission of technologies, cumulative learning, and culture. Here, observers' responses to an innovation are more important for ensuring its transmission than is an innovator's production of it, because, by themselves, the minimal cognitive prerequisites that are needed for encoding and assimilating innovations are insufficient for practical outcomes to accumulate and spread intra- and intergenerationally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Héctor M Manrique
- Departamento de Psicología y Sociología, Universidad de Zaragoza, Campus Universitario de Teruel, 44003, Teruel, Spain.
| | - Michael J Walker
- Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Universitario de Espinardo Edificio 20, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
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Effects of semantic relationship and preactivation on memory updating. Cogn Process 2022; 23:407-422. [PMID: 35551551 PMCID: PMC9296423 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-022-01096-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Semantic relationship modulates working memory (WM) processes by promoting recall but impairing recognition. Updating is a core mechanism of WM responsible for its stability and flexibility; it allows maintenance of relevant information while removing no-longer relevant one. To our knowledge, no studies specifically investigated how WM updating may benefit from the processing of semantically related material. In the current study, two experiments were run with this aim. In Experiment 1, we found an advantage for semantically related words (vs. unrelated) regardless of their association type (i.e., taxonomic or thematic). A second experiment was run boosting semantic association through preactivation. Findings replicated those of Experiment 1 suggesting that preactivation was effective and improved semantic superiority. In sum, we demonstrated that long-term semantic associations benefitted the updating process, or more generally, overall WM function. In addition, pre-activating semantic nodes of a given word appears likely a process supporting WM and updating; thus, this may be the mechanism favoring word process and memorization in a semantically related text.
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Semantic long-term memory and verbal working memory performance: How does their relationship change with age? COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2022.101185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Bansal E, Hsu HH, de Water E, Martínez-Medina S, Schnaas L, Just AC, Horton M, Bellinger DC, Téllez-Rojo MM, Wright RO. Prenatal PM2.5 exposure in the second and third trimesters predicts neurocognitive performance at age 9-10 years: A cohort study of Mexico City children. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 202:111651. [PMID: 34246643 PMCID: PMC8578200 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) is an important, under-studied risk factor for neurodevelopmental dysfunction. We describe the relationships between prenatal PM2.5 exposure and vigilance and inhibitory control, executive functions related to multiple health outcomes in Mexico City children. METHODS We studied 320 children enrolled in Programming Research in Obesity, GRowth, Environment and Social Stressors, a longitudinal birth cohort study in Mexico City. We used a spatio-temporal model to estimate daily prenatal PM2.5 exposure at each participant's residential address. At age 9-10 years, children performed three Go/No-Go tasks, which measure vigilance and inhibitory control ability. We used Latent class analysis (LCA) to classify performance into subgroups that reflected neurocognitive performance and applied multivariate regression and distributed lag regression modeling (DLM) to test overall and time-dependent associations between prenatal PM2.5 exposure and Go/No-Go performance. RESULTS LCA detected two Go/No-Go phenotypes: high performers (Class 1) and low performers (Class 2). Predicting odds of Class 1 vs Class 2 membership based on prenatal PM2.5 exposure timing, logistic regression modeling showed that average prenatal PM2.5 exposure in the second and third trimesters correlated with increased odds of membership in low-performance Class 2 (OR = 1.59 (1.16, 2.17), p = 0.004). Additionally, DLM analysis identified a critical window consisting of gestational days 103-268 (second and third trimesters) in which prenatal PM2.5 exposure predicted poorer Go/No-Go performance. DISCUSSION Increased prenatal PM2.5 exposure predicted decreased vigilance and inhibitory control at age 9-10 years. These findings highlight the second and third trimesters of gestation as critical windows of PM2.5 exposure for the development of vigilance and inhibitory control in preadolescent children. Because childhood development of vigilance and inhibitory control informs behavior, academic performance, and self-regulation into adulthood, these results may help to describe the relationship of prenatal PM2.5 exposure to long-term health and psychosocial outcomes. The integrative methodology of this study also contributes to a shift towards more holistic analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esha Bansal
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 17 East 102nd Street, 3 West, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Hsiao-Hsien Hsu
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 17 East 102nd Street, 3 West, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Erik de Water
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
| | - Sandra Martínez-Medina
- Division of Community Interventions Research, National Institute of Perinatology, Calle Montes Urales 800, Miguel Hidalgo, Lomas Virreyes, Mexico City, Mexico.
| | - Lourdes Schnaas
- Division of Community Interventions Research, National Institute of Perinatology, Calle Montes Urales 800, Miguel Hidalgo, Lomas Virreyes, Mexico City, Mexico.
| | - Allan C Just
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 17 East 102nd Street, 3 West, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Megan Horton
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 17 East 102nd Street, 3 West, New York, NY, United States.
| | - David C Bellinger
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, United States.
| | - Martha M Téllez-Rojo
- Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Av. Universidad 655, Col. Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
| | - Robert O Wright
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 17 East 102nd Street, 3 West, New York, NY, United States; The Institute for Exposomics Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 17 East 102nd Street, 3 West, New York, NY, United States.
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Artuso C, Borgatti R, Palladino P. Phonological memory updating and developmental dyslexia: The role of long-term knowledge. Child Neuropsychol 2021; 27:718-733. [PMID: 33602062 DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2021.1888907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between phonological knowledge and reading is consistent both in typically developing children and in children with dyslexia. However, children with dyslexia usually show lower phonological skills. In a group of children with dyslexia 8- to 12-year-old we investigated how different long-term memory phonological associations are updated in memory, that is how are kept in mind and replaced when no longer relevant. Response times (RTs) and accuracy rates were collected. Typically, long-term memory associations are dismantled and updated with greater difficulty (longer RTs). We did not replicate these findings in children with dyslexia thus demonstrating the effects of phonological disruption during updating, a mechanism that is preserved overall. In summary, our work advances literature about how phonological knowledge impacts verbal working memory updating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caterina Artuso
- Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, Italy
| | | | - Paola Palladino
- Brain and Behavioral Sciences Department, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
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Dzulkarnain AA, Azizi AK, Sulaiman NH. Auditory sensory gating in Huffaz using an auditory brainstem response with a psychological task: A preliminary investigation. J Taibah Univ Med Sci 2020; 15:495-501. [PMID: 33318741 PMCID: PMC7715407 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtumed.2020.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective This study aims to investigate the auditory sensory gating capacity in Huffaz using an auditory brainstem response (ABR) test with and without psychological tasks. Methods Twenty-three participants were recruited for this study. The participants were comprised of 11 Huffaz who memorized 30 chapters of the Islamic Scripture (from the Quran) and 12 non-Huffaz as the control group. All participants had normal hearing perception and underwent an ABR test with and without psychological tasks. The ABR was elicited at 70 dB nHL using a 3000 Hz tone burst stimulus with a 2-0-2 cycle at a stimulus repetition rate of 40 Hz. The ABR wave V amplitude and latencies were measured and statistically compared. A forward digit span test was also conducted to determine participants' working memory capacity. Results There were no significant differences in the ABR wave V amplitudes and latencies between Huffaz and non-Huffaz in ABR with and without psychological tasks. There were also no significant differences in the ABR wave V amplitudes and latencies in both groups of ABR with and without psychological tasks. In addition, no significant differences were identified in the digit span working memory score between both groups. Conclusions In this study, based on the ABR findings, Huffaz showed the same auditory sensory gating capacity as the non-Huffaz group. The ABR result was consistent with the digit span working memory test score. This finding implies that both groups have similar working memory performance. However, the conclusion is limited to the specific assessment method that we used in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad A.A. Dzulkarnain
- Corresponding address: Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Kuantan, Pahang, 25200, Malaysia.
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Artuso C, Palladino P, Belacchi C. Sensitivity detection in memory recognition: interference control as index of taxonomic memory development? Memory 2019; 28:187-195. [PMID: 31868105 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2019.1705488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
We investigated how long-term memory modulates recognition accuracy performance in typically developing primary school children (aged 7 vs. 9 years). We devised a verbal working memory task where words associations were manipulated to obtain different types of semantic associations (i.e., taxonomic, thematic). Sensitivity detection measures were operationalised as difference between hits and false alarms (for both internal and external intrusions). As our main result, we found sensitivity detection for taxonomic associations was greater in older children than younger. In turn, this showed that taxonomies produce more interference in younger children, and thus, they are not able to take advantage from taxonomic associations, as older children do. These results are helpful in sketching a developmental trend of how semantic memory impacts recognition processes in memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caterina Artuso
- Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, Italy
| | - Paola Palladino
- Brain and Behavioral Sciences Department, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Carmen Belacchi
- Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, Italy
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