Relationship between Learning English as a Foreign Language and the Executive Attention Profile in Spanish Schoolchildren / [Relación entre el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera y el perfil ejecutivo atencional en escolares españoles]

Executive functions are established as vital in learning, as well as in the development of psycholinguistic skills crucial to learning a second language. The present study analyzes relationships between variables linked to executive functioning and to academic achievement in English as a foreign language (EFL). The participants were 519 primary school students between the ages of 10 and 12. The results show a tendency to greater sustained and selective attention and consequently better attention control and concentration on task when academic achievement in English was higher. Our discriminant analysis verifies that sustained and selective attention, attention deficit, and concentration on task explain and predict group membership in EFL achievement groups (low, medium, and high achievement). It is important to plan activities to develop executive functioning, alongside the regular curriculum content, in order to improve learning and acquisition of psycholinguistic skills, the foundation for bilingualism or second-language learning.(AU)

Se constata la importancia de las funciones ejecutivas en el aprendizaje, así como en el desarrollo de habilidades psicolingüísticas cruciales para aprender un segundo idioma. En este estudio se analizan las relaciones entre variables vinculadas al funcionamiento ejecutiv y al rendimiento académico en lengua inglesa. Participaron 519 estudiantes de primaria de edades comprendidas entre 10 y 12 años. Los resultados evidencian la tendencia a una mayor atención sostenida y selectiva y en consecuencia un mejor control atencional y de concentración en la tarea cuando es mayor el rendimiento académico en lengua inglesa; el análisis discriminante efectuado verifica el carácter explicativo y predictivo de la atención sostenida y selectiva, el déficit atencional y la concentración en la tarea en la pertenencia de cada estudiante a los grupos (bajo, medio y alto) de rendimiento en dicha asignatura. Se constata la importancia de programar actuaciones para el desarrollo del funcionamiento ejecutivo en paralelo a las propiamente curriculares, para mejorar el aprendizaje y la adquisición de habilidades psicolingüísticas, base del bilingüismo o del aprendizaje de un segundo idioma.(AU)

Rendimiento Académico según Distintos Niveles de Funcionalidad Ejecutiva y de Estrés Infantil Percibido / Academic performance in relation to different levels of executive functioning and perceived childhood stress

Dentro de la multiplicidad de variables que influyen en el aprendizaje y en el rendimiento académico, las funciones ejecutivas y el estrés cotidiano se consideran esenciales en la investigación actual. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo general estudiar las relaciones entre variables vinculadas a las funciones ejecutivas, el estrés infantil y el rendimiento académico obteniendo información de 649 estudiantes de Educación Primaria. Se conforman tres grupos (bajo-medio-alto) según la funcionalidad ejecutiva y el estrés infantil, cuyos resultados evidencian diferencias significativas en rendimiento académico entre los grupos alto y medio-bajo, tanto en el caso de las funciones ejecutivas como del estrés global. Se concluye reivindicando programas para mejorar el funcionamiento ejecutivo, junto con intervenciones psicoeducativas para la adquisición y el desarrollo de estrategias de afrontamiento para manejar situaciones estresantes cuyo fin último sea mejorar el rendimiento académico

While there are multiple variables that influence learning and academic achievement, current research considers executive functions and daily stress to be essential. The general aim of this study was to examine how variables pertaining to executive functions and childhood stress relate to academic achievement, obtaining information from 649 primary school students for this purpose. Three groups (low-medium-high) were formed according to levels of executive functioning and levels of childhood stress. The results showed significant differences in academic achievement between high and medium-low groups, both in executive functions and in overall stress. We conclude with a call for programs that improve executive functioning, as well as psychoeducational interventions that promote acquisition and development of coping strategies to manage stressful situations, with the ultimate purpose of improving academic achievement

Exchange Bias Optimization by Controlled Oxidation of Cobalt Nanoparticle Films Prepared by Sputter Gas Aggregation.

Porous films of cobalt nanoparticles have been obtained by sputter gas aggregation and controllably oxidized by air annealing at 100 °C for progressively longer times (up to more than 1400 h). The magnetic properties of the samples were monitored during the process, with a focus on the exchange bias field. Air annealing proves to be a convenient way to control the Co/CoO ratio in the samples, allowing the optimization of the exchange bias field to a value above 6 kOe at 5 K. The occurrence of the maximum in the exchange bias field is understood in terms of the density of CoO uncompensated spins and their degree of pinning, with the former reducing and the latter increasing upon the growth of a progressively thicker CoO shell. Vertical shifts exhibited in the magnetization loops are found to correlate qualitatively with the peak in the exchange bias field, while an increase in vertical shift observed for longer oxidation times may be explained by a growing fraction of almost completely oxidized particles. The presence of a hummingbird-like form in magnetization loops can be understood in terms of a combination of hard (biased) and soft (unbiased) components; however, the precise origin of the soft phase is as yet unresolved.