Producción de inferencias explicativas en la comprensión de textos expositivos: el papel de la aptitud verbal, la memoria de trabajo y la atención selectiva / Making Explanatory Inferences in the Comprehension of Expository Texts: The Role of Verbal Ability, Working Memory, and Selective Attention / Produção de inferências explicativas na compreensão de textos expositivos: o papel da aptidão verbal, memória de trabalho e atenção seletiva

El objetivo del presente trabajo consistió en estudiar el rol de la atención selectiva, el componente retentivo y ejecutivo de información de la memoria de trabajo, y la aptitud verbal en la producción de inferencias explicativas en la comprensión de textos expositivos. Con este propósito, 171 estudiantes universitarios completaron pruebas de memoria de trabajo, atención selectiva, aptitud verbal y cuestionarios de inferencias explicativas luego de leer textos expositivos. Los resultados de las ecuaciones estructurales muestran que la producción de inferencias se explica de manera directa por la aptitud verbal y el componente ejecutivo de la memoria de trabajo. El análisis también detectó una relación de interacción de mediación entre las capacidades de producir inferencias explicativas, de atención selectiva y de almacenamiento de información verbal en memoria de trabajo. Estos componentes mostraron un efecto indirecto sobre la capacidad de inferir vía el componente ejecutivo de la memoria de trabajo. Lo anterior sugiere que la capacidad de inferir explicaciones en la comprensión está fuertemente relacionada con la aptitud verbal y la capacidad de procesar información en la memoria de trabajo, mientras que el componente retentivo y de atención selectiva muestran un impacto mediado por la memoria de trabajo.

This research aimed to study the role of selective attention, the retention and executive components of working memory, and verbal aptitude in producing explanatory inferences in the comprehension of expository texts. For this purpose, 171 undergraduates completed tests of working memory, selective attention, verbal aptitude, and explanatory inference questionnaires after reading expository texts. The results of the structural equation modeling indicated that the production of explanatory inferences is determined directly by verbal aptitude and the executive component of verbal working memory. The analysis also detected a mediation interaction effect between the abilities to produce explanatory inferences, selective attention span, and the ability to store verbal information in working memory. These components indirectly affected the ability to infer via the executive component of working memory. This suggest that the ability to make explanatory inferences in the comprehension of expository texts is strongly related to verbal aptitude and the capacity to process information in working memory, while the ability to manage selective attention and retain verbal information in shortterm memory have an impact on the ability to generate inferences mediated by working memory

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o papel da atenção seletiva, do componente retentivo e executivo da memória de trabalho e da aptidão verbal na produção de inferências explicativas na compreensão de textos expositivos. Para tanto, 171 estudantes universitários responderam a testes de memória de trabalho, atenção seletiva, aptidão verbal e questionários de inferência explicativa após a leitura de textos expositivos. Os resultados das equações estruturais mostram que a produção de inferências é diretamente explicada pela aptidão verbal e pelo componente executivo da memória de trabalho. A análise também detectou uma relação de interação mediadora entre a capacidade de produzir inferências explicativas, o tempo de atenção seletiva e a capacidade de armazenar informações verbais na memória de trabalho. Esses componentes mostraram um efeito indireto na capacidade de inferir por meio do componente executivo da memória de trabalho. Isso sugere que a capacidade de inferir explicações na compreensão está fortemente relacionada à aptidão verbal e à capacidade de processar informações na memória de trabalho, enquanto o componente de atenção seletiva e seletiva apresenta impacto, mas mediado pela memória de trabalho.

La comprensión de narraciones orales y las diferencias individuales en niños con Trastornos del Espectro Autista / The oral narratives comprehension and individual differences in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Muchos niños con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) presentan dificultad en la comprensión de narraciones orales. Investigaciones relacionadas reportan peores desempeños en inferencias emocionales respecto a otros tipos de inferencias. En este estudio participaron 15 niños con TEA entre 8 y 12 años, agrupados según nivel intelectual. Se evaluó la memoria de trabajo, la atención sostenida y el vocabulario; y medidas de comprensión como, la generación de inferencias y el recuerdo de información literal. Los resultados evidenciaron mejores desempeños en preguntas a inferencias emocionales y explicativas en los lectores con TEA sin déficit cognitivo en comparación a sus pares con déficit cognitivo. Además, no se encontraron diferencias significativas en desempeños a preguntas de información literal. Finalmente, el grupo con déficit cognitivo mostró mejor rendimiento en preguntas de inferencias explicativas respecto a otro tipo de inferencias, estos desempeños podrían vincularse con el tipo de material, narraciones orales acompañadas de ilustraciones AU

A lot of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) present difficulty in oral narrative comprehension. Related research reports worst performance in emotional inferences than other inferences type. This study involved 15 children with ASD between 8 and 12 years, grouped according to the intellectual level. Working memory, vocabulary and sustained attention were assessed. Also, comprehension measures such as generating inferences and recalling literal information. The results evidenced better performance in emotional and explanatory inference questions in readers with ASD and without cognitive deficit than their peers with cognitive deficit. In addition, no significant differences were found in performance on literal information questions. Finally, the group with cognitive deficit showed better performance in questions of explanatory inferences compared to other types of inferences, these performances could be linked to the type of material, oral narrations accompanied by illustrations AU

El rol de la memoria de trabajo y la atención sostenida en la generación de inferencias explicativas / The role of working memory and sustained attention in explanatory inference generation

El propósito de este trabajo consistió en estudiar la relación entre la memoria de trabajo, la capacidad de sostener la atención y la generación de inferencias explicativas-repositivas en la comprensión de textos expositivos. Para ello, 120 alumnos universitarios leyeron dos textos expositivos del área de las ciencias naturales y completaron un cuestionario de generación de inferencia, junto con cuatro pruebas de memoria de trabajo verbal y dos pruebas que miden la capacidad de sostener la atención sobre una tarea. Los resultados indicaron que el componenente ejecutivo de la memoria de trabajo verbal tienen un efecto directo sobre la generación de inferencias, mientras la capacidad de sostener la atención y el almacenamiento de información en la memoria de trabajo verbal tienen un efecto indirecto mediado por el componente ejecutivo. Esto sugiere que las diferencias individuales en la generación de inferencias están vinculadas a las diferencias inviduales en la memoria de trabajo, y también a las diferencias individuales en la capacidad de sostener la atención.

The aim of this work was to study the relationship between working memory, sustained attention and explanatory inference generation in expository texts comprehension. To this end, 120 undergraduate students read two expository texts from natural sciences and completed an inference generation questionnaire, along with four verbal working memory tasks and two sustained attention tasks. The results showed that the executive component of verbal working memory has a direct effect on inference generation, while sustained attention and information storage in verbal working memory have an indirect effect mediated by the executive component. This supports the idea that individual differences in inference generation are related to individual differences in working memory, and also to individual differences in the ability to sustain attention.

Generación de inferencias explicativas en la comprensión de textos expositivos: el rol de la memoria de trabajo y el conocimiento previo específico / Explanation-based inferences generation in expository texts comprehension: The role of working memory and specific prior knowledge

RESUMEN El propósito de este trabajo consistió en estudiar la relación entre la memoria de trabajo, el conocimiento previo y la generación de inferencias en la comprensión de textos. Con este propósito, 167 estudiantes universitarios completaron pruebas de memoria de trabajo y cuestionarios sobre su conocimiento acerca del cambio climático y de astronomía; luego de la lectura de dos textos expositivos referidos a ambos temas, completaron un cuestionario sobre inferencias. Los resultados del análisis de correlaciones y del análisis de senderos muestran que si bien la memoria de trabajo y el conocimiento previo específico de dominio tienen una relación con la generación de inferencias explicativas-repositivas, hay una relación de interacción de mediación entre estas variables que explica el rol de ellas sobre la generación de inferencias.

ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to study the relationship between working memory, previous knowledge, and explanation-based inferences in expository text reading. To this effect, 167 undergraduates completed three working memory tasks, and two climate change and astronomy questionnaires, after reading two expository texts on these subjects. The results of the correlations and paths analyses show that, while working memory and specific previous domain knowledge are related to the generation of explanatory and reinstatement inferences, there is a mediation interaction relationship between these variables that explains their role in the generation of inferences.

Mendelian randomization approach, used for causal inferences / 中华流行病学杂志

Mendelian randomization (MR) approach is based on the Mendelian genetic law,which is called "Parental alleles that randomly assigned to the offspring".MR refers to the use of genetic variants to develop causal inferences from observational data,if the variant genotype isassociated with the phenotype and the variant genotype associated with the risk of disease of interest through the phenotype.Hence,the genotype can be used as Instrumental Variable (IV) to infer the causal relation between the phenotype and the risk of diseases.In recent years,MR approach is widely used in causal inference between the exposure factors and the risks of disease,along with the rapid development of statistical methods,big datasets of GWAS,epigenetics and the various "omics" techniques.This paper provides an overview of the MR strategies and addresses the related assumptions and implications,with reliability and limitations included.

Mendelian randomization approach, used for causal inferences / 中华流行病学杂志

Mendelian randomization (MR) approach is based on the Mendelian genetic law,which is called "Parental alleles that randomly assigned to the offspring".MR refers to the use of genetic variants to develop causal inferences from observational data,if the variant genotype isassociated with the phenotype and the variant genotype associated with the risk of disease of interest through the phenotype.Hence,the genotype can be used as Instrumental Variable (IV) to infer the causal relation between the phenotype and the risk of diseases.In recent years,MR approach is widely used in causal inference between the exposure factors and the risks of disease,along with the rapid development of statistical methods,big datasets of GWAS,epigenetics and the various "omics" techniques.This paper provides an overview of the MR strategies and addresses the related assumptions and implications,with reliability and limitations included.

Relaciones entre decodificación, conocimiento léxico-semántico e inferencias en niños de escolaridad primaria / Relations between decoding, lexical-semantic knowledge and inferences in primary school children

La comprensión lectora es un complejo proceso que se asienta en tres habilidades básicas interrelacionadas: la decodificación, el conocimiento léxico-semántico y los procesos de integración textual. Investigaciones previas han indicado que las dificultades en la comprensión lectora pueden deberse a la decodificación ineficaz, las carencias en el conocimiento léxico-semántico y los problemas para realizar inferencias. Los objetivos del trabajo que se informa fueron estudiar las relaciones entre las habilidades de la comprensión lectora y estudiar la contribución de las habilidades de decodificación y del conocimiento léxico-semántico, a la realización de inferencias textuales. Participaron 94 niños de escolaridad primaria de 8 a 10 años de edad. Se administraron las subpruebas de Identificación de Letras y de Procesos Léxicos de la Batería de Evaluación de los Procesos Lectores (Cuetos, Rodríguez, Ruano & Arribas, 2010), la adaptación del Subtest de Vocabulario de la Escala de Inteligencia de Wechsler para Niños de Contini, Figueroa, Cohen Imach y Coronel de Pace (2000) y las Tareas de Inferenciasde Cain y Oakhill (Canet Juric & Burin, 2006). Los resultados indicaron correlaciones moderadas a altas y significativas entre las habilidades lectoras. Las habilidades de decodificación y conocimiento léxico-semántico explicaron el 51% de las inferencias, pero la única que realizó una contribución significativa fue el conocimiento léxico. En el caso de las inferencias puente, el conjunto de las variables explicó el 48% de éstas y en el de las elaborativas, el 45%. En ambos casos, el único predictor que hizo una contribución significativa fue el conocimiento léxico. En conclusión, las habilidades lectoras se hallan relacionadas y el vocabulario es un componente básico para las habilidades de mayor nivel como las inferencias.

Reading comprehension is a complex process which lies upon three interrelated basic skills: decoding, lexical semantic knowledge and word to-text integration processes. Decoding entails the reader’s ability to recognize grapheme-phoneme correspondence. Lexical semantic knowledge refers to the knowledge of words in a given language, and it includes both word identification, i.e., visual processing of the graphemes’ shapes and lexical activation; and semantic awareness, i.e., knowledge of meaning. Decoding and lexical semantic knowledge are deemed as pertaining to a lower level in relation to integration, in which category we include such skills as inference - generation. Previous research, notably in England, the United States of America and Argentina, has shown that difficulties in reading comprehension may be due to faulty decoding, poor lexical semantic knowledge and inference making failures. Although each of these skills is necessary to achieve comprehension, none of them alone can guarantee it. It is considered that decoding and lexical knowledge are associated skills, and influence each other. The effects of decoding in text comprehension are mediated by knowledge about the meaning of words and the effects of comprehension in decoding depend on the achievement of sufficient word meanings. Thus, the aims of this paper were to study the relations among reading comprehension skills and to study how decoding skills and lexical semantic knowledge contribute to inference-making generation. In broad terms, the hypotheses were reading comprehension skills are interrelated and decoding skills and lexical knowledge are significant predictors of inference-making generation. This survey was conducted among 94 primary school children of an average age of 8 to 10 years old. They were given the Letter Recognition and Lexical Processes Tests from the PROLEC Test Battery, the Vocabulary Subtest from Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) and the Inference-making Ability Assessments from Cain and Oakhill (Canet Juric & Burin, 2006). Results have shown that in the decoding assessment, the highest number of errors and correct answers are found in pseudo word reading. Regarding lexical knowledge, the highest average of right answers is found in word reading. As regards word-to-text integration, the average number of inferences incorrectly drawn is 14.62. Since the tests we used measured right and wrong answers, indices of decoding and lexical knowledge were created. Moreover, our findings suggest significant and moderate-to-strong relations among reading comprehension skills. Decoding skills and lexical semantic knowledge have accounted for 51% of inferences. However, lexical knowledge alone has made the most significant contribution. The set of variables has accounted for 48% of coherence inferences and 45% of elaborative inferences. The only significant predictor of both types of inference-making was lexical knowledge. To conclude, as posited by international research and our first hypothesis, comprehension skills are interrelated. Taking into consideration our second hypothesis, our findings suggest that comprehension skills account for inference-making generation and that lexical knowledge reveals itself as a predictor of the children’s potential ability for inference-making. In other words, vocabulary is a basic component of more complex skills such as inference. This is consistent with what international research suggests. As regards the performance of the general sample in the assessed comprehension skills, it resembles that of the child population of the same age, surveyed in Tucumán and in. Taking into consideration the way in which comprehension skills relate to and affect each other could allow us to develop intervention programs which would help improve the performance of children who demonstrate text comprehension difficulties.

Inference comprehension during reading: influence of age and education in normal adults / Compreensão de inferências durante a leitura: influência da idade e escolaridade em adultos normais

Purpose: To determine the effect of age and education on inferential comprehension from written texts in normal individuals. Methods: A total of 224 normal adults were stratified into nine groups according to age (young: 18–39 years, adults: 40–59 years, and elderly: 60–79 years) and educational level (low ≤4 years, medium: 5–8 years and high >8 years) and were evaluated through the battery La gestion de l'implicite (Implicit Information Management Test) to determine the ability to make inferences through different types of questions: explicit, logical, distractor, pragmatic and others. Results: The elderly showed worse performance for total score and distractor questions. Regarding educational level, all groups differed on explicit, logical, distractor questions, and on total test score. Subjects with high schooling performed better on pragmatic inferences and others. Conclusion: Age influence on the comprehension of inferences may be due to difficulties in attention and executive functions. The strong effect of education can be explained by the interaction of inferential abilities with other cognitive functions such as working memory, vocabulary span, as well as world knowledge.

Objetivo: Verificar o efeito da idade e escolaridade na compreensão de inferências a partir de textos escritos em indivíduos normais. Métodos: 224 adultos foram divididos em nove grupos, de acordo com a idade (jovens: 18–39 anos, adultos: 40–59 anos e idosos: 60–79 anos) e escolaridade (baixa ≤4 anos, média: 5–8 anos e alta >8 anos) e avaliados por meio da bateria La gestion de l'implicite (Teste de Gerenciamento do Implícito) para determinar a habilidade de compreender inferências, através de diferentes tipos de questões: explícitas, lógicas, distratoras, pragmáticas e outras. Resultados: Os idosos apresentaram pior desempenho na pontuação total do teste e nas questões distratoras. Quanto à escolaridade, todos os grupos se diferenciaram nas questões explícitas, lógicas, distratoras e na pontuação total do teste. Os sujeitos com alta escolaridade apresentaram melhor desempenho nas inferências pragmáticas e outras. Conclusão: A influência da idade na compreensão de inferências pode estar relacionada a dificuldades atencionais e de funções executivas. O forte efeito da escolaridade deve-se à interação da habilidade inferencial com diversas funções cognitivas, como linguagem e memória operacional, além de conhecimento de mundo.

Inferential abilities based on pictorial stimuli in patients with right hemisphere damage: influence of schooling / Habilidades inferenciais a partir de estímulos pictóricos em pacientes com lesão de hemisfério direito: influência da escolaridade

Inferences are mental representations, formed through the interaction between explicit linguistic information and an individual?s world knowledge. It is well known that individuals with brain damage in the right hemisphere (RH) often fail on this task and that schooling may be a variable affecting this. Objective: To compare the effect of schooling on an inference comprehension task based on pictorial stimuli in patients with RH lesion. Methods: The inferential abilities of 75 controls and 50 patients with RH lesion were assessed through the pictorial stimuli from the instrument ?300 exercises of comprehension of logical and pragmatic inferences and causal chains?. Both groups were stratified into two subgroups according to schooling level: 4 to 8 years and 9 or more years. Results and Conclusion: Highly educated subjects performed better than low educated individuals, both on intergroup and intragroup comparisons (p<0.0001) for logical and pragmatic inference ability.

Inferências são representações mentais, formadas através da interação entre a informação linguística explícita e o conhecimento de mundo de um indivíduo. Sabe-se que indivíduos com lesão cerebral em hemisfério direito (HD) frequentemente falham nesse tipo de tarefa e que, a escolaridade pode ser uma variável que afeta tal competência. Objetivo: Comparar o efeito da escolaridade em um teste de compreensão de inferência a partir de estímulos visuais, em pacientes com lesão de HD. Métodos: As habilidades inferenciais de 75 controles e 50 pacientes com lesão de HD foram avaliadas a partir de estímulos pictóricos do intrumento ?300 exercícios de compreensão de inferências lógicas e pragmáticas e cadeias causais?. Ambos os grupos foram divididos em dois subgrupos de acordo com o nível de escolaridade: 4 a 8 anos e 9 anos ou mais. Resultados e Conclusão: O grupo mais escolarizado apresentou melhor desempenho do que os menos escolarizados, seja nas comparações intragrupos e intergrupos (p<0.0001), tanto na compreensão de inferências lógicas quanto pragmáticas.

Simulación de la comprensión de narraciones mediante la implementación del modelo Landscape y el rol de las inferencias emocionales / Comprehension of narratives simulation through the Landscape model and the role of emotional inferences

El propósito de este trabajo consistió en estudiar el rol de la generación de inferencias en la comprensión de textos narrativos; para ello se realizaron dos simulaciones con el Programa Landscape sobre un texto narrativo natural, una simulación con arreglo de inferencias emocionales y otra sin ellas, que se pusieron en relación con datos conductuales de sujetos, obtenidos del reconocimiento de las oraciones del texto y de su valoración o relevancia para la historial. Con este propósito, participaron 30 adultos universitarios. Leyeron la narración y posteriormente respondieron a un protocolo de reconocimiento y valoraciones de proposiciones del texto. A continuación se llevó a cabo un análisis de correlaciones y luego un análisis de regresión lineal empleando los valores de proposiciones predichas a partir de dos simulaciones, una simulación causal-referencial (sin emociones) y otra con implementación de inferencias emocionales, como variables predictoras, y los valores obtenidos de reconocimiento y valoración y/o relevancia para la historia, como variables dependientes. El análisis de correlación mostró que ambas simulaciones se asociaron con los valores de reconocimiento y valoración, aunque en mayor medida, la simulación con implementación de inferencias emocionales; pero el análisis de regresión detectó que únicamente la simulación con implementación de inferencias emocionales explicó los datos obtenidos de reconocimiento y valoración. Estos hallazgos sugieren que las inferencias emocionales juegan un rol de importancia en la comprensión de textos narrativos, ya que permiten que el lector focalice su atención hacia determinados puntos de la historia, que serán los nucleares o más importantes.

Text comprehension requires the construction of a coherent mental representation, integrating text information with previous knowledge. Several studies have suggested that the emotional states of characters need not be stated explicitly: readers can infer them as a consequence of the narrative situation, characters' goals, actions, and relations to other characters. This study investigated emotional inferences generation during reading using the simulation of a narrative text, carried out with the Landscape Program and assessing text sentence recognition and the relevance of the sentence to the story. This program is a connectionist model that represents comprehension as a changing landscape of activations of propositions along several reading cycles. This model proposes that, as the reader procedes through a text, propositions fluctuate in activation. That is, with each reading cycle, new propositions are activated, and activation values of current propositions change. In addition, the coactivation of propositions leads to the establishment of connections between them. Through these fluctuating activations, a memory representation of the text gradually and dynamically emerges. The peaks and valleys of this landscape represent the relative contribution of each proposition at any given point in the story, and are the base for the construction of a mental representation of the story. The aim of this work is to determine if comprehension of a narrative with emotional inferences is a better predictor of textual proposition recognition and its relevance to the story than comprehension of a narrative without emotional inference, using a program that simulates the comprehension process. In order to simulate the generation of emotional inferences, we used the Landscape Computational Model. For this purpose 30 participants, undergraduates (9 males -30%- and 21 women, with a mean age of 20.67 years, SD = 2.85), read a story and subsequently completed a proposition recognition and proposition relevance for the story protocol. Pearson correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were conducted. Two linear regression models were tested, both including propositional values of simulation with emotional inference and without emotional inferences as independent variables, one including proposition recognition as dependent variable, and the other including proposition relevance for the story as dependent variable. The Pearson correlation coefficients showed that the simulation of the story with emotional interference and the simulation of the story without emotional interference are related to proposition recognition and story relevance, although the relation between this values and the simulation based on emotional inference had better coefficients (r = .35, p < .01, and r = .38, p < .01 respectively) than the causal-referential simulation (r = .27, p < .05, and r = .28, p < .05 respectively). The linear regression analysis detected that only the simulation with emotional inference explained the variance of recognition data ( = .45, p < .01) and the variance of the relevance to the story values ( = .53, p < .01). These findings suggest that emotional inferences play an important role in the understanding of narratives texts; because they focus the reader's attention to certain important points of the story. That is, the realization of emotional inferences seems to intensify the attention that the reader devotes to the entire cycle (which includes the proposition that prompts the inference, and also those that are causally connected to it), facilitating its later recognition and relevance to the story. This intensified processing can be related to the role that characters' emotional reactions play in a narrative.

Text Comprehension as a Problem Solving Situation / Comprensión de textos como una situación de solución de problemas

Research in text comprehension has provided details as to how text features and cognitive processes interact in order to build comprehension and generate meaning. However, there is no explicit link between the cognitive processes deployed during text comprehension and their place in higher-order cognition, as in problem solving. The purpose of this paper is to propose a cognitive model in which text comprehension is made analogous to a problem solving situation and that relies on current research on well-known cognitive processes such as inference generation, memory, and simulations. The key characteristic of the model is that it explicitly includes the formulation of questions as a component that boosts representational power. Other characteristics of the model are specified and its extensions to basic and applied research in text comprehension and higher-order cognitive processes are outlined.

La investigación en la comprensión de textos ha dado detalles de cómo las características del texto y los procesos cognitivos interactúan con el fin de consituir la comprensión y generar significado. Sin embargo, no existe un vínculo explícito entre los procesos cognitivos desplegados durante la comprensión de textos y su lugar en la cognición de orden superior, como en la resolución de problemas. El propósito de este trabajo es proponer un modelo cognitivo en el que la comprensión de textos se hace similar a una resolución de problemas y la situación que se basa en la investigación actual sobre los procesos cognitivos conocidos como la generación de la inferencia, la memoria y las simulaciones. La característica clave del modelo es que incluye explícitamente la formulación de las preguntas como un componente que aumenta la potencia de representación. Otras características del modelo se especifican y sus extensiones a la investigación básica y en la comprensión de textos y de orden superior los procesos cognitivos se describen aplican.

Compreendendo textos narrativo e argumentativo: há diferenças? / Understanding narrative and argumentative texts: is there any difference? / La comprensión de textos narrativos y argumentativos: ¿hay diferencias?

O estudo versa sobre as relações entre compreensão de textos e tipos de textos, investigando se as características estruturais de textos de diferentes gêneros influenciam a compreensão do leitor. Perguntas de natureza inferencial foram feitas a cem crianças de 9 anos, a respeito de textos com características estruturais distintas. Cada participante fazia a leitura interrompida de um texto narrativo e de um texto argumentativo, divididos em partes. Após responder a perguntas sobre esses textos, as crianças justificavam suas respostas, classificadas em categorias que variavam em função da coerência, plausibilidade e completude. Os dados mostraram que as características estruturais dos textos influenciam a compreensão no que tange à natureza da inferência estabelecida...

This study examines the relations between the understanding of texts and types of texts. It investigates whether the structural characteristics of texts of different types influence the reader's understanding. One hundred 9-year-old children were asked inferential questions about texts presenting different structural characteristics. Each child was asked to read a narrative and an argumentative text divided in parts. After answering the questions, the children were asked to justify their answers. These answers were categorized according to their level of coherence, plausibility and completeness. It was found that the structural characteristics of texts influence their understanding with regard to the nature of the inferences made by the reader...

El estudio examina las relaciones entre la comprensión de textos y sus tipos, investigando si las características estructurales de textos de diferentes géneros influyen en la comprensión del lector. Preguntas inferenciales se le hicieron a cien niños de 9 años respecto a los textos con diferentes características estructurales. Cada participante realizaba la lectura interrumpida de un texto narrativo y otro argumentativo, divididos en partes. Después de responder a preguntas acerca de estos textos, los niños justificaban sus respuestas clasificadas en categorías dependiendo de la coherencia, plausibilidad e integridad que presentaban. Los datos mostraron que las características estructurales de los textos influyen en la comprensión con respecto a la naturaleza de inferencia establecida...

Análise de erros e compreensão de textos: comparações entre diferentes situações de leitura / Error Analysis and Reading Comprehension: Comparisons Between Different Reading Situations

O presente estudo analisou os erros apresentados por crianças com dificuldades de compreensão de textos em duas situações de leitura. As crianças do Grupo 1 realizaram a leitura interrompida de uma história e as do Grupo 2 realizaram a leitura sem interrupção. Após a leitura, as crianças responderam perguntas sobre informações inferenciais. A análise das respostas permitiu identificar quatro tipos de erros referentes à maneira de integrar informações intra e extratextuais. Apesar dos erros serem estáveis em ambas as situações, a leitura interrompida propiciou tentativas de estabelecimento de inferências mais eficientes do que a leitura sem interrupções. Os resultados contribuem para um entendimento psicológico das dificuldades de compreensão textual no que concerne ao estabelecimento de inferências, podendo gerar implicações educacionais.

This study analyzed errors presented by children with difficulties in reading comprehension in two reading conditions. Children in Group 1 were asked to read a story with interruptions, and those in Group 2 had to read the same story without any interruptions whatsoever. After reading, the children answered questions about information of an inferential nature. Analysis of the answers led to the identification of four types of errors, regarding the way intra and extra-textual information is integrated. Although the errors were stable in both situations, the interrupted reading appears to favor attempts to establish inferences. The results contribute to a psychological understanding of the difficulties related to reading comprehension, specifically in the establishment of inferences, with possible educational implications.

Inferencias sobre un texto narrativo en contextos de interacción en la educación inicial / Inferences over a narrative text in contexts of interaction in early childhood education

La investigación que da lugar al presente artículo se enmarca en la Psicología Educativa de corte cultural. Explora las relaciones entre las características de las interacciones establecidas para propiciar la interpretación de un texto narrativo y las inferencias que los niños hacen sobre él. Un total de 44 niños repartidos en cuatro grupos de preescolar participó en el estudio. El diseño es de tipo descriptivo-exploratorio, con dos clases de análisis: cualitativo -análisis del discurso- y cuantitativo -análisis de redes sociales-, para procesar los datos. Se encontró que los niños cuyas maestras propician más interacciones cognitivas de alta demanda, proponiendo el análisis de los aspectos implícitos en el texto, logran mayor elaboración inferencial, mientras que los niños cuyas docentes proponen menos interacciones con discusiones principalmente sobre información explícita en el texto, hacen pocas inferencias y con nivel de menor elaboración.

This research explores the relationship between the characteristics of interactions established to favor the narrative text interpretation and the inferences that children make on it. This is marked in the educative, cognitive and cultural psychologist. In this research participated four groups of kinder garden with a total of forty four children. This was a descriptive and explorative design. Was realized a discursive analysis and a social nets analysis to process information. It was find that children which teachers favor more interactions and better interactions raised a textual analyses got a high inferencial elaboration, and children which teachers proposed low interaction raised discussions about explicit information in the text, realized a few inferences and with a low level of elaboration.

La interacción en el aula: una vía para posibilitar la comprensión inferencial de textos narrativos en niños de preescolar / Interaction in the classroom: one way to facilitate the understanding inference of narrative texts in children of preschooler

La investigación explora las relaciones entre las características de las interacciones establecidas para propiciar la interpretación de un texto narrativo y las inferencias que los niños hacen sobre él. Ésta se enmarca en la psicología educativa, cognitiva y cultural. 4 grupos de preescolar participaron en el estudio con un total de 48 niños. El diseño fue descriptivo exploratorio. Se hizo un análisis cualitativo - análisis del discurso - y uno cuantitativo - análisis de redes sociales - para procesar los datos. Se encontró que los niños cuya maestra propiciaba más interacciones alrededor del texto buscando una comprensión como transacción texto -lector, lograron mayor elaboración inferencial y los niños cuyas docentes propusieron interacciones en las que planteaban discusiones sobre información explícita en el texto, realizaron pocas inferencias y de menor complejidad.

This research explores the relationship between the characteristics of interactions established to favor the narrative text interpretation and the inferences that children make on it. This is marked in the educative, cognitive and cultural psychologist. In this research participated four groups of kinder garden with a total of forty eight children. This was a descriptive and explorative design. Was realized a discursive analysis and a social nets analysis to process information. It was find that children which teacher favor more interactions and better interactions raised a textual analyses got a high inferencial elaboration, and children which teachers proposed low interaction raised discussions about explicit information in the text, realized a few inferences and with a low level of elaboration.

Exploración de la comprensión inferencial de textos narrativos en niños de preescolar / An approach to the inferential comprehension of narrative texts in preschool children

Se realizó un estudio exploratorio que buscó tipificar las inferencias que elaboran los niños de transición, en Ibagué, sobre un texto narrativo a partir de una tarea de comprensión textual. La investigación se enmarca en la psicología evolutiva, cognitiva y cultural. Participaron seis grupos de transición y un total de 96 niños. A las docentes participantes se les propuso, en su grupo de transición, la lectura de un mismo cuento y trabajarlo durante tres sesiones en la misma semana para posibilitar la comprensión por parte de los niños. Para evaluar el funcionamiento inferencial que hacían los niños del texto, se utilizó un cuestionario y el análisis de contenido para procesar los datos. Se encontró que el tipo de inferencia que más realizan los niños es la referencial; le sigue con frecuencia media la instrumental, la predictiva y la de reacción emocional; las de menor frecuencia fueron la temática y la de antecedente causal. Sin embargo, se encontró que la comprensión inferencial es pobre en los niños de la muestra.

This paper presents an exploratory study conducted in Ibagué, and whose main purpose was to determine the inferences that pre-schoolers made about a specific narrative text. It was based on recent findings of developmental, cognitive and cultural psychology, and gathered data from 96 preschool children in six groups. The teachers participated reading the same short story for three sessions in one week, in order to enhance the students’ comprehension. A questionnaire was used to assess the inferential function around the narrative text, as well as a content analysis to process the data. The results showed that the main kind of inferences that children made was the referential, followed by the instrumental and predictive inferences and the inferences about emotional reactions; the least frequent were the thematic inferences and those about a causal antecedent. However, the findings showed that inferential comprehension is very poor in the preschool children of the sample.

Genetic control on the performance of common bean differential cultivars to Colletotrichum lindemuthianum races

The aim of this work was to perform genetic control on differential cultivars Michelite, Michigan Dark Red Kidney, Perry Marrow, Cornell 49-242, PI 207262, AB 136 and G 2333 and its diallel hybrids by using Hayman's methodology. The entire F1s populations were evaluated in relation to race 89, whereas the race 31, the diallel scheme did not include the cultivar G 2333. The results showed that the additive effects were predominant for the 31 race, while non-additive effects were more important for race 89. The results demonstrated a high coefficient of genetic determination for the race 31. The G 2333, AB 136 and PI 207262 cultivars should be recommended obtaining cultivar resistant to anthracnose by backcross programs because theyshowed the highest proportion of resistant dominant alleles for the races 31 and 89.

Dentre as várias doenças que causam problemas no cultivo de feijão comum (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), uma das mais importantes é a antracnose causada pelo fungo Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Saac. et Magn.) Scrib., a qual pode resultar em severas perdas na produtividade de grãos. O controle genético, nas cultivares diferenciais Michelite, Michigan Dark Red Kidney, Perry Marrow, Cornell 49-242, PI 207262, AB 136 e G 2333 e seus 21 híbridos dialélicos, foi obtido usando a metodologia de Hayman (1954). Todas as populações F1s foram avaliadas em relação à raça 89, enquanto que os híbridos envolvendo a cultivar G 2333 não foram avaliados com a raça 31. Os resultados demonstraram que os efeitos aditivos foram predominantes para a raça 31, enquanto os efeitos gênicos não aditivos foram mais importantes na reação de incompatibilidade das cultivares a raça 89. Os resultados ainda evidenciaram um elevado coeficiente de determinação genética para a raça 31. Os cultivares G 2333, AB 136 e PI 207262 são os mais indicados para programas de melhoramento visando à obtenção de cultivares resistentes à antracnose por possuírem maior proporção de alelos dominantes para resistência às raças 31 e 89.

Compreensão de texto em crianças: comparações entre diferentes classes de inferência a partir de uma metodologia on-line / Text comprehension in children: comparing different classes of inferences by using on-line methodology

A partir de uma metodologia on-line, examinou-se a compreensão de textos em crianças de 7 e 9 anos em relação a diferentes tipos de inferências estabelecidas durante a leitura de uma história: inferências causais, de estado e de previsão. A metodologia on-line consiste na leitura interrompida do texto, sendo feitas perguntas inferenciais sobre cada passagem lida e sobre o que o leitor acha que virá a seguir (previsão). Verificou-se que as inferências de previsão envolvem informações extratextuais e requerem a formulação de hipóteses sobre a continuidade da narrativa; gerando, nas crianças, certa dificuldade em prever eventos que estão por acontecer. Conclui-se que a capacidade de estabelecer inferências durante a leitura de um texto varia em função da natureza da informação inferencial solicitada, e que esta capacidade se desenvolve com a idade. Dicute-se o caráter inovador da metodologia on-line de investigação e sua relevância para a pesquisa na área.

This study, by means of using an on-line methodology, examined 7 and 9-year-old children's text comprehension in relation to different types of inferences constructed during a story reading task: causal inferences, state inferences and inferences of prediction (what happens next in the story). The on-line methodology consists of making inferential questions to the child during text comprehension immediately after the subject has read a passage. Due to the fact that inferences of prediction involve extratextual information and require to raise hypothesis about the continuity of the narrative, children had difficulties in predicting events that had not occurred yet in the story. It was concluded that the ability to make inferences during text comprehension varies according to the type of inferential question presented and that this ability develops with age. The inovative aspect of the on-line methodology and its relevance to the research on text comprehension are discussed.