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Kautto A, Railo H, Mainela-Arnold E. Introducing the Intra-Individual Variability Hypothesis in Explaining Individual Differences in Language Development. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2024; 67:2698-2707. [PMID: 38913843 DOI: 10.1044/2024_jslhr-23-00527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Response times (RTs) are commonly used in studying language acquisition. However, previous research utilizing RT in the context of language has largely overlooked the intra-individual variability (IIV) of RTs, which could hold significant information about the processes underlying language acquisition. METHOD We explored the association between language abilities and RT variability in visuomotor tasks using two data sets from previously published studies. The participants were 7- to 10-year-old children (n = 77). RESULTS Our results suggest that increased variability in RTs is associated with weaker language abilities. Specifically, this within-participant variability in visuomotor RTs, especially the proportion of unusually slow responses, predicted language abilities better than mean RTs, a factor often linked to language skills in past research. CONCLUSIONS Based on our findings, we introduce the IIV hypothesis in explaining individual differences in language development. According to our hypothesis, inconsistency in the timing of cognitive processes, reflected by increased IIV in RTs, degrades learning different aspects of language, and results in individual differences in language abilities. Future studies should further examine the relationship between IIV and language abilities, and test the extent to which the possible relationship is causal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Kautto
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Finland
- Department of Speech and Language Pathology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Henry Railo
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Elina Mainela-Arnold
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Finland
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Arjmandi MK, Neils-Strunjas J, Nemati S, Fridriksson J, Newman-Norlund S, Newman-Norlund R, Bonilha L. Age-Related Hearing Loss, Cognitive Decline, and Social Interaction: Testing a Framework. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2024; 67:2743-2760. [PMID: 38995870 DOI: 10.1044/2024_jslhr-23-00810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/14/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Aging increases risk for hearing loss, cognitive decline, and social isolation; however, the nature of their interconnection remains unclear. This study examined the interplay between age-related hearing loss, cognitive decline, and social isolation in adults by testing the ability to understand speech in background noise, a challenge frequently reported by many older adults. METHOD We analyzed data collected from 128 adults (20-79 years of age, Mage = 51 years) recruited as part of the Aging Brain Cohort at the University of South Carolina repository. The participants underwent testing for hearing, cognition, and social interaction, which included pure-tone audiometry, a words-in-noise (WIN) test, a hearing questionnaire (Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale [SSQ12]), a social questionnaire (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-57 Social), and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. We used a single pure-tone average (PTA) threshold value and a single WIN threshold value for each participant because there were no differences on average between the left and right ears. RESULTS Poorer hearing was significantly associated with cognitive decline, through both PTA and WIN thresholds, with a stronger association observed for WIN threshold. Adults with poorer hearing also exhibited greater social isolation, as evidenced by their WIN threshold and SSQ12 score, although not through PTA. This connection was more pronounced with the WIN threshold than with the SSQ12 score. Cognition was not related to social isolation, suggesting that social isolation is affected more by the ability to understand words in noise than by cognition in a nondemented population. CONCLUSIONS Understanding speech in challenging auditory environments rather than mere threshold detection is strongly linked to social isolation and cognitive decline. Thus, inclusion of a word-recognition-in-noise test and a social isolation survey in clinical settings is warranted. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26237060.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meisam K Arjmandi
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia
- Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, Columbia
| | - Jean Neils-Strunjas
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia
| | - Samaneh Nemati
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia
| | - Julius Fridriksson
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia
- Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, Columbia
| | - Sarah Newman-Norlund
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia
| | - Roger Newman-Norlund
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia
- Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, Columbia
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Coolen IEJI, van Langen J, Hofman S, van Aagten FE, Schaaf JV, Michel L, Aristodemou M, Judd N, van Hout ATB, Meeussen E, Kievit RA. Protocol and preregistration for the CODEC project: measuring, modelling and mechanistically understanding the nature of cognitive variability in early childhood. BMC Psychol 2024; 12:407. [PMID: 39060934 PMCID: PMC11282758 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-01904-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children's cognitive performance fluctuates across multiple timescales. However, fluctuations have often been neglected in favour of research into average cognitive performance, limiting the unique insights into cognitive abilities and development that cognitive variability may afford. Preliminary evidence suggests that greater variability is associated with increased symptoms of neurodevelopmental disorders, and differences in behavioural and neural functioning. The relative dearth of empirical work on variability, historically limited due to a lack of suitable data and quantitative methodology, has left crucial questions unanswered, which the CODEC (COgnitive Dynamics in Early Childhood) study aims to address. METHOD The CODEC cohort is an accelerated 3-year longitudinal study which encompasses 600 7-to-10-year-old children. Each year includes a 'burst' week (3 times per day, 5 days per week) of cognitive measurements on five cognitive domains (reasoning, working memory, processing speed, vocabulary, exploration), conducted both in classrooms and at home through experience sampling assessments. We also measure academic outcomes and external factors hypothesised to predict cognitive variability, including sleep, mood, motivation and background noise. A subset of 200 children (CODEC-MRI) are invited for two deep phenotyping sessions (in year 1 and year 3 of the study), including structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, eye-tracking, parental measurements and questionnaire-based demographic and psychosocial measures. We will quantify developmental differences and changes in variability using Dynamic Structural Equation Modelling, allowing us to simultaneously capture variability and the multilevel structure of trials nested in sessions, days, children and classrooms. DISCUSSION CODEC's unique design allows us to measure variability across a range of different cognitive domains, ages, and temporal resolutions. The deep-phenotyping arm allows us to test hypotheses concerning variability, including the role of mind wandering, strategy exploration, mood, sleep, and brain structure. Due to CODEC's longitudinal nature, we are able to quantify which measures of variability at baseline predict long-term outcomes. In summary, the CODEC study is a unique longitudinal study combining experience sampling, an accelerated longitudinal 'burst' design, deep phenotyping, and cutting-edge statistical methodologies to better understand the nature, causes, and consequences of cognitive variability in children. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov - NCT06330090.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilse E J I Coolen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Jordy van Langen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Sophie Hofman
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Fréderique E van Aagten
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Jessica V Schaaf
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Lea Michel
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Michael Aristodemou
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Nicholas Judd
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Aran T B van Hout
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Emma Meeussen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands
| | - Rogier A Kievit
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Trigon Building, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen, 6525 EN, the Netherlands.
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Judd N, Aristodemou M, Klingberg T, Kievit R. Interindividual Differences in Cognitive Variability Are Ubiquitous and Distinct From Mean Performance in a Battery of Eleven Tasks. J Cogn 2024; 7:45. [PMID: 38799081 PMCID: PMC11122693 DOI: 10.5334/joc.371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Our performance on cognitive tasks fluctuates: the same individual completing the same task will differ in their response's moment-to-moment. For decades cognitive fluctuations have been implicitly ignored - treated as measurement error - with a focus instead on aggregates such as mean performance. Leveraging dense trial-by-trial data and novel time-series methods we explored variability as an intrinsically important phenotype. Across eleven cognitive tasks with over 7 million trials, we found highly reliable interindividual differences in cognitive variability in every task we examined. These differences are both qualitatively and quantitatively distinct from mean performance. Moreover, we found that a single dimension for variability across tasks was inadequate, demonstrating that previously posited global mechanisms for cognitive variability are at least partially incomplete. Our findings indicate that variability is a fundamental part of cognition - with the potential to offer novel insights into developmental processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Judd
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Aristodemou
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Torkel Klingberg
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Rogier Kievit
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Speyer LG, Murray AL, Kievit R. Investigating Moderation Effects at the Within-Person Level Using Intensive Longitudinal Data: A Two-Level Dynamic Structural Equation Modelling Approach in Mplus. MULTIVARIATE BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH 2024; 59:620-637. [PMID: 38356288 DOI: 10.1080/00273171.2023.2288575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Recent technological advances have provided new opportunities for the collection of intensive longitudinal data. Using methods such as dynamic structural equation modeling, these data can provide new insights into moment-to-moment dynamics of psychological and behavioral processes. In intensive longitudinal data (t > 20), researchers often have theories that imply that factors that change from moment to moment within individuals act as moderators. For instance, a person's level of sleep deprivation may affect how much an external stressor affects mood. Here, we describe how researchers can implement, test, and interpret dynamically changing within-person moderation effects using two-level dynamic structural equation modeling as implemented in the structural equation modeling software Mplus. We illustrate the analysis of within-person moderation effects using an empirical example investigating whether changes in spending time online using social media affect the moment-to-moment effect of loneliness on depressive symptoms, and highlight avenues for future methodological development. We provide annotated Mplus code, enabling researchers to better isolate, estimate, and interpret the complexities of within-person interaction effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia Gabriela Speyer
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Rogier Kievit
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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