Desarrollo de las reflexiones metapragmáticas sobre la función de la ironía verbal en adolescentes

Objetivo. Analizar las reflexiones metapragmáticas que presentan 32 adolescentes de 12 y 15 años de edad (16 por grupo etario) sobre la función de la ironía verbal en dos tipos de actos de habla: agradecimiento y ofrecimiento irónicos. Método. Los participantes se enfrentaron a ocho historias que terminaban con una expresión irónica y mediante un guion de preguntas se indagó sobre las funciones que les atribuían a los enunciados irónicos. Resultados. Se muestran diferencias significativas debidas a la edad, pero no al tipo de enunciado en las reflexiones que hacen los adolescentes, lo que confirma que la capacidad para hacer reflexiones metapragmáticas sobre la ironía verbal se desarrolla de manera muy tardía en el lenguaje infantil.

Objective. Analyse metapragmatic reflections made by adolescents aged 12 and 15 years old (16 per age group) on the functions of verbal irony, in two types of ironic speech acts: ironic thanking and ironic offering. Method. The participants faced eight stories ending with ironic remarks, and through questioning, they were asked about the functions they attributed to the ironic statements. Results. Significant differences are shown due to age, but none related to the type of statement, which confirms that the ability to make metapragmatic reflections on verbal irony develops late in children's language.

Los padres como promotores del desarrollo de lenguaje de bebés prematuros: propuesta de intervención temprana / Parents as Promoters of Language Development in Premature Babies: a Proposal for Early intervention

Resumen Objetivo: Comparar dos sistemas de puntuación para un test de fluidez verbal con el Modelo de Escalas de Calificación. Método: Se analizaron datos de 289 participantes, de los cuales 92 habían sido diagnosticados con Parkinson. Las puntuaciones se calcularon con dos sistemas de categorización: un procedimiento convencional y otro basado en percentiles. Resultados: Las puntuaciones Rasch procedentes de percentiles dan lugar a categorías adecuadas y medidas fiables; la correlación con las puntuaciones del test Minimental es evidencia de validez concurrente. Tras controlar estadísticamente el efecto de la edad, las medidas Rasch procedentes de percentiles discriminan entre ambos grupos, lo que evidencia validez predictiva. Conclusiones: El análisis de los dos procedimientos permite recomendar el uso de las categorías basadas en percentiles.

Abstract Objective: Two scoring systems for a verbal fluency test were compared using the Rasch Rating Scale Model. Method: The analysis was carried out on 289 participants, 92 of whom had had a Parkinson's disease diagnosis. Scores were calculated with two different category systems: a conventional procedure and a percentile-based one. Results: The percentile-based Rasch scores produce adequate categories and reliable measures, while the correlation with the Mini Mental State Examination evinces concurrent validity. After statistically controlling for age, percentile-based Rasch measures discriminated between both groups, demonstrating predictive validity. Conclusions: The analysis of the two procedures allows for the recommendation of the use of percentile-based categories.

The role of language similarity in processing second language morphosyntax: Evidence from ERPs.

This study investigated the role of L1-L2 morphosyntactic similarity in L2 learners of French. In two experiments, we manipulated the grammatical gender agreement between an adjective and noun in a sentence context. The noun either shared lexical gender across Spanish and French (Experiment 1) or did not (Experiment 2). ERPs were collected from beginner Spanish-speaking learners of French and native French speakers while they read sentences in French. The results for the native speakers revealed a P600 effect on gender agreement violations irrespective of lexical gender overlap across languages. L2 learners exhibited a negativity in the N400 time window in response to gender agreement violations that involved nouns with the same gender in their L1 and L2 (Experiments 1 and 2), whereas no difference was observed to gender agreement violations that involved nouns with contradictory gender across languages (Experiment 2). These results suggest that L2 learners at low levels of L2 proficiency rely on their L1 lexical gender system to detect gender agreement errors in L2, but engage different neurocognitive mechanisms to process similar L2 morphosyntactic knowledge.

Magnesium valproate in learning disabled children with interictal paroxysmal EEG patterns: Preliminary report.

Previous studies have investigated whether routine use of antiepileptic drugs is adequate to improve cognitive abilities in children who are learning disabled not otherwise specified (LD NOS) and who display interictal paroxysmal patterns in the electroencephalogram (EEG) but do not have epilepsy, and the findings of these studies have been controversial. In the current study, 112 LD children without epilepsy were assessed; however, only 18 met the strict inclusion/exclusion criteria in order to obtain a homogeneous sample. These children showed interictal paroxysmal patterns in the EEG, and a randomized, double-blind trial was carried out on them. The children were treated with either magnesium valproate (MgV; 20mg/kg/day) or a placebo for six months, and differences in WISC subtests, in a computerized reading skills battery (BTL) and EEG recordings were evaluated between groups before and after the treatment period. Performance IQ score and several items of the BTL (rhymes and ordering of words) improved in children who received MgV, whereas no changes were observed in the placebo group. No changes in the number of interictal paroxysmal patterns were observed in any group; however increased EEG currents at 10.92 and 12.87Hz (alpha band) in posterior regions and decreased currents in frequencies within the theta band (3.90, 4.29 and 5.07Hz) in frontal regions and at 4.68 and 5.46Hz in the parietal cortex were observed, suggesting an improvement in EEG maturation.

Habituation of visual evoked potentials in healthy infants and in infants with periventricular leukomalacia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether habituation of flash visual evoked potentials is already present during the first 3 months of life, and to explore differences between healthy infants, term infants with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), and preterm infants with PVL. METHODS: Referential recordings to stimuli consisting of photic stimulation presented in blocks were obtained. A total of 25 blocks, 15-stimuli each, were presented. Intrablock and interblock habituation effects were analyzed. RESULTS: In healthy infants of 42-50 and 51-58 weeks of post-conceptional age (PCA), a negative central component (NCC) showed a significant decrease in amplitude due to stimulus repetition. NCC habituation was also observed in term infants with PVL at 51-58 weeks of PCA, but not in term infants with PVL at 42-50 weeks of PCA. NCC habituation was not apparent in preterm infants with PVL. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the neural mechanisms of visual habituation are normally present during the first month of life, but the presence of PVL delays the emergence of these mechanisms, particularly in preterm infants. SIGNIFICANCE: The habituation of flash visual evoked potentials may be developed into a reliable tool to examine normal and abnormal development of early neural processes.