Effects of word length and frequency on word identification in second- and fifth-grade children as a function of language skills.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the combined effect of word length and lexical frequency in a lexical decision task in second- and fifth-grade children with varying language skills. The participants, 47 second graders and 55 fifth graders, performed a lexical decision task in which word length and lexical frequency were manipulated orthogonally so that 32 words were short and frequent (e.g., fleur [flower]), 32 words were short and rare (e.g., navet [turnip]), 32 words were long and frequent (e.g., escalier [staircase]), and 32 words were long and rare (e.g., boussole [compass]). Language skills (phonological awareness, reading, vocabulary, and rapid automatized naming skills) were measured using standard language tests. The results showed that word length and, to a lesser extent, lexical frequency influence the speed and accuracy of word identification in different ways, depending on the children's educational level. Furthermore, language skills were found to influence the effects of word length and frequency, differently in second- and fifth-grade children. The results are interpreted within the dual-route model of visual word recognition. The role of language skills in the implementation of these processes is also discussed.

Effects of lexical skills and orthographic neighborhood size in word memory.

Two experiments were designed to investigate the relationship between individual lexical skills in young adults and memory performance on words varying by their orthographic neighborhood size. In Experiment 1, a sample of 100 university students were administrated a set of spelling, reading, and vocabulary tests to assess their lexical skills. Then, they had to learn mixed lists of words from high and low neighborhood size and perform free recall and memory recognition tasks. Importantly, high lexical skills were found to enhance free recall and, to a lesser extent, recognition. In addition, a typical mirror effect of neighborhood size was found in recognition as words were better recognized and also produced less false alarms when they had a low neighborhood size. In Experiment 2, pure lists of words were designed and a new sample of 90 university students was assessed. We replicated the effect of lexical skills in free recall and the effect of neighborhood size for hits in recognition. Spelling skills were found to interact with neighborhood size in free recall in that low spelling skills were associated with a facilitatory effect of neighborhood size. In recognition, a relation between reading skills and neighborhood size was found such that the higher the reading skills, the higher was the inhibitory effect of neighborhood size. These results provide new evidence of an influence of lexical skills in word memory performance and underline the role of orthographic neighborhood size in episodic memory tasks.

Word imageability influences the emotionality effect in episodic memory.

This study examines how and to what extent imageability influences the effect of word emotionality in episodic memory. A total of 52 young adults successively performed a free recall task and a recognition task in which word emotionality and imageability were orthogonally manipulated across six conditions of French words: low-imageability positive words (e.g., éloge [praise]), low-imageability negative words (e.g., viral [viral]), low-imageability neutral words (e.g., global [global]), high-imageability positive words (e.g., ourson [teddy]), high-imageability negative words (e.g., tornade [tornado]), and low-imageability neutral words (e.g., noyau [core]). The results from both the recall and the recognition memory tasks show that word imageability enhances memory performance. Importantly, word imageability interacted with word emotionality in both tasks. Specifically, we found that the advantage of emotional over neutral words in episodic memory performance emerged for high-imageability words only, as did the advantage of positive over negative words. These results highlight the role of imageability in the mechanisms underlying emotional word episodic memory.

Age-related evaluations of imageability and subjective frequency for 1286 neutral and emotional French words: ratings by young, middle-aged, and older adults.

This study aimed at providing imageability and subjective frequency ratings collected from four adult age groups ranging from 18 to 85 years old (18-25; 26-39; 40-59; and 60 and over) for 1286 neutral and emotional French words available in the EMA database (Gobin et al., 2017). Overall, the older adults rated words as more (subjectively) frequent and more imageable than the younger adults. Furthermore, we examined the relationships between subjective frequency and imageability, as well as those with emotional variables (i.e., valence, arousal) already available for these words, for each age group. For all age groups, more subjective frequent words were more imageable. Emotional words were more imageable and more frequent. Arousal scores were lower for low- and high-imageability words, and higher for more subjective frequent words. The strength of these links between subjective frequency, imageability, and emotional ratings was found to decrease as a function of age. Finally, by using the lexical decision reaction times and accuracy rates of young adults from Megalex (Ferrand et al., 2018), imageability and subjective frequency across age were found to provide an additional contribution to visual word recognition performance as compared to objective lexical variables (i.e., number of letters, syllables, objective frequency, orthographic neighborhood). More importantly, subjective frequency and imageability ratings from the youngest group predicted reaction times and accuracy better than ratings from the oldest group. By providing new age-adapted word characteristics, this norm should be of great use to researchers in the field of cognitive aging who use word materials.

Word imageability and orthographic neighbourhood effects on memory: a study in free recall and recognition.

This study investigated the effects of word imageability and orthographic neighbourhood size, as well as their combined effects, in free recall and recognition memory. A total of 45 young adults performed recall and recognition tasks on the same word materials. Word imageability and orthographic neighbourhood size were orthogonally manipulated across four word conditions: low-imageability words - high N, saveur [flavor], low-imageability words - low N, total [total], high-imageability words - high N, carré [square] and high-imageability - low N, nuage [cloud]. The results show that word imageability facilitates memory performance in both free recall and recognition tasks, while the effect of orthographic neighbourhood size was exhibited only in the recognition task. Finally, the orthographic neighbourhood effect was found to depend on word imageability. The implications of the results are discussed according to semantic and orthographic word characteristics with regard to the memory processes involved in free recall and recognition tasks.

Is the approach avoidance compatibility effect moderated by word imageability?

The approach/avoidance (AA) compatibility effect refers to the fact that individuals respond faster by an approach movement to positive than to negative stimuli, whereas they respond faster by an avoidance movement to negative than to positive stimuli. Although this effect has been observed in many studies, the underlying mechanisms remain still unclear. On the basis of recent studies suggesting a key role of sensorimotor information in the emergence of the AA compatibility effect, the present study aimed to investigate the specific role of visual information, operationalised through word imageability, in the production of the AA compatibility effect. We orthogonally manipulated the emotional valence (positive/negative) and the imageability (low/high) of words in an incidental online-AA task (i.e., in the absence of valence processing goals) using a stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 300 ms. In line with previous studies, Experiment 1 revealed an AA compatibility effect in the absence of valence processing goals. However, this effect was not moderated by word imageability. In Experiment 2, we examined whether the absence of influence of word imageability could be due to the short SOA (300 ms) used in this experiment. We used the same design as in Experiment 1 and manipulated the SOA (400 vs 600 ms). We again observed an AA compatibility effect which was not moderated by word imageability, whatever the SOA used. The results of both experiments suggest the absence of any influence of sensorimotor information in the AA compatibility effect, at least when provided by the to-be-approached/avoided stimulus.

Individual and environmental determinants associated with longer times to access pediatric rheumatology centers for patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a JIR cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Despite guidelines, poor access to appropriate care for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients remains a global issue. Prompt referral to a pediatric rheumatology (PR) center and effective care is known to be critical for changing the natural history of the disease and improving long-term prognosis. This project assesses socio-economic factors of delayed referral to a pediatric rheumatologist (PRst) for JIA patients in France and Switzerland within the Juvenile Inflammatory Rheumatism (JIR) Cohort. METHODS: All patients diagnosed with JIA, presenting at one center of the JIRcohort in France or Switzerland with additional data on referral pathway were included. Patient characteristics at first visit to the PR center, dates of visits to healthcare providers during referral, and parent characteristics were extracted from the JIRcohort database. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty children were included. The overall median time to first PR assessment was 2.4 months [1.3; 6.9] and ranged widely across the JIA subtypes, from 1.4 months [0.6; 3.8] for children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) to 5.3 months [2.0; 19.1] for children with enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA). A diagnosis of ERA and an appointment with an orthopedist during the referral pathway were significantly associated with a longer time before the first PR visit (hazard ratio HR 0.50 [95% CI: 0.29; 0.84]) and HR 0.68 [95% CI: 0.49; 0.93], respectively) in multivariable analysis. Having a mother with a post-graduate educational attainment level was tendentially associated with a shorter time before the first PR visit, (HR 1.32 [95% CI: 0.99; 1.78]). CONCLUSIONS: Time to first PRst visit was most often short compared to other studies and close to the British recommendations. However, this time remained too long for many patients. We observed no social inequities in access to a PRst, but we show the need to improve effective pathway and access to a PR center for JIA patients.

Therapeutic alliance is associated to treatment adherence in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: Therapeutic alliance (TA) is the agreement between caregiver and patient during the care process. Therapeutic adherence is a major issue for the management of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) requiring child's strong ability to follow treatments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between TA and adherence in patients with JIA. METHODS: Observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study. Children, with JIA, aged 8-16, were included. Children, parents and physicians completed the Helping Alliance Questionnaire (HAQ-CP) for assessing TA. Adherence was measured using the Child/Parent Adherence Report Questionnaire (CARQ & PARQ). Demographic data, disease characteristics, current treatments and social environment were collected. The univariate relationship between TA and adherence, was studied by Pearson correlation coefficient. The multivariate analysis used a multiple linear regression model. RESULTS: A total of 119 patients were included: 68.9% girls, mean age (SD) 12.4 (2.9) years, disease duration 73.1 (48.2) months. JIA was in remission (52%), in low activity (32%) and active (16%). TA scores were high (≥80/100) for children, parents and physicians. HAQCP was highly correlated with CARQ (r=0.31; P<0.001) PARQ (r=0.37; P<0.001). In univariate analysis, disease activity (P<0.05), place of residence (P<0.01) and family status (P<0.01) were associated with child's TA. In multivariate analysis, only the place of residence (P<0.001) and the family status (P<0.05) remained associated with TA. CONCLUSION: TA strongly influences therapeutic adherence and therefore may be important for treatment effectiveness.