The number of different digits determines solution and verification of multiplication problems.

The solution and verification of single-digit multiplication problems vary in speed and accuracy. The current study examines whether the number of different digits in a problem accounts for this variance. In Experiment 1, 41 participants solved all 2-9 multiplication problems. In Experiment 2, 43 participants verified these problems. In Experiment 3, 26 participants solved 10 problems that differed in shared-digit network (SDN) size and matched in problem size. In Experiment 4, 24 participants verified these matched sets. Results show faster and more accurate responses to problems that include fewer different digits relative to problems with more different digits, and faster and more accurate responses to problems whose SDN is small relative to problems whose SDN is large. We thus show that the number of different digits in a problem, including the operands and the solution, determines the speed and accuracy of its solution and verification. This parsimonious account also explains why responses to five and tie problems, which include fewer different digits relative to nonfive and nontie problems, are faster and more accurate than responses to other problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Differences Between Semantic and Phonemic Verbal Fluency in Adolescents With Reading Disorders.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine which verbal fluency task is most useful in assessing adolescents with reading disorders (RD). METHOD: Eighty-three Hebrew-speaking adolescents (ages 12-15), 42 of them with RD, completed semantic and phonemic fluency tasks, and their scores were converted to standardized scores according to population norms. RESULTS: Scores on the semantic task were similar in the RD and the control group, unlike scores on the phonemic task, which were significantly lower in the RD group. The RD group demonstrated higher semantic than phonemic scores, unlike the control group whose standardized scores on both tasks were similar. Phonemic but not semantic fluency scores predicted spelling scores within the RD group. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with RD have no difficulty on a semantic fluency task, but perform below expected age-matched levels on the phonemic fluency task. To document this task-difference, practitioners must administer both fluency tasks when assessing RD.

Explaining vocabulary knowledge in adulthood through comparison with knowledge of math concepts.

Previous research has assumed that all types of semantic knowledge are similarly affected by aging. We investigate whether knowledge of vocabulary and math concepts show comparable lifetime change. A sample of 252 participants aged 17-91 completed two multiple-choice tasks that examined knowledge of infrequent word meanings and knowledge of basic math concepts. Up to age 64, vocabulary scores improved, whereas math scores remained stable. After that age, vocabulary scores remained stable, while math scores declined. We suggest that the fact that the learning and use of infrequent vocabulary are incidental, incremental, and contextual contributes to maintenance of word knowledge into old age. In contrast, learning of basic math concepts occurs relatively early in life in an intentional manner, and both learning and use of these concepts involve constrained contexts. Thus, the nature of the acquisition and use of semantic knowledge across the lifespan affects its fate in old age.

On the importance of using local tests and local norms in the assessment of memory.

The current study compared the assessment of memory with a translated story recall test and its original published norms and an equivalent local test with local norms. Analyses used data from 232 individuals with memory complaints who underwent neuropsychological evaluation at an outpatient memory clinic. One group of participants completed a translated test (N = 126) and another group completed a local test (N = 106). Additionally, participants completed tasks of word list recall, picture naming, and verbal fluency, all having local norms. The results showed that raw scores on the delayed story recall test, and on all other cognitive tasks, did not differ across groups, and the cross-task correlations were significant and similar in size in both groups. Yet, there was an interaction between group and standardized tests scores, whereby the standardized scores on the translated story recall test were equivalent to population mean, whereas all other scores fell below the mean. Conversion of raw scores to the original norms indicated that the performance of individuals with memory complaints was intact, while conversion of scores on a local test to local norms revealed the expected memory impairment. The findings highlight the importance of using local tests and local norms in the assessment of memory.

Associations between memory and verbal fluency tasks.

Previous studies have provided inconsistent evidence concerning the association between delayed retrieval of story information from long-term memory and retrieval of words on verbal fluency tasks. The current study looks for shared retrieval mechanisms in these tasks from childhood to old age. Three-hundred and eighty participants (ages 5-91) performed tasks of story recall, digit span, phonemic fluency, and semantic fluency. Significant correlations between delayed story recall and both fluency tasks emerged in all age groups, and the contribution of delayed story recall to fluency performance remained significant when analyzing the combined effects of story recall and digit span. These findings suggest that retrieval of information through story recall and retrieval of words on fluency tasks may share similar cognitive components.