ABSTRACT
Abstract This project had the aim of detecting and intervening in difficulties of language and behavior in children at the age of three and four. A hundred seventy-eight children were assessed in behavior, expressive and receptive vocabulary and in central auditory processing. 84 children constituted the experimental group and were engaged in an intervention for the development and refinement of language and management of behavior problems through activities developed in software used in tablets, concrete games and orientation provided to their parents and teachers by a professional team composed by speech therapists, psychologists and psycho pedagogues. Posttest analysis indicated significant difference between the vocabulary and language scores, suggesting that this model of early assessment and intervention can be a successful strategy in school environments.
RESUMO Esta pesquisa objetivou detectar e intervir nas dificuldades de linguagem e comportamento em crianças de três e quatro anos de idade. Foram avaliadas 178 crianças nas áreas de comportamento, vocabulário expressivo e receptivo e processamento auditivo central. O grupo experimental, com 84 crianças, foi submetido à intervenção para o desenvolvimento e aprimoramento de linguagem e manejo de comportamentos-problema por meio de atividades desenvolvidas em aplicativos usados em tablets, jogos concretos e orientações fornecidas a seus pais e professores por uma equipe de fonoaudiólogos, psicólogos e psicopedagogos. As análises do pós-teste indicaram diferença significativa entre os resultados dos testes de vocabulário e comportamento, sugerindo que esse modelo de avaliação e intervenção precoce pode ser uma estratégia bem-sucedida em ambiente escolar.
ABSTRACT
Autism is defined by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction in multiple contexts as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. There are also reported difficulties in the dynamic activation and modification of cognitive processes in response to changes in tasks' demands. Such difficulties are believed to be due to poor flexible cognition. This research aimed to assess and intervene in cognitive flexibility in subjects with autism.Ten subjects diagnosed with autism by psychiatrists, aged 5 years to 13 years and 5 months, were assessed in non-verbal intelligence through Raven's Progressive Matrices in pretest. They were also assessed in cognitive flexibility through Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and in patterns of social interactions, behaviors, and communication through Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). An intervention program of 14 to 21 sessions was established to enhance cognitive flexibility. In posttest, they were assessed in WCST and ADI-R.All measures of cognitive flexibility improved in posttest except for failure to maintain set. Among the measures improved in posttest, perseverative errors and responses improved in posttest with statistical significance as well as categories completed. Total scores on ADI-R were lower in posttest as well as scores on communication abilities.The qualitative improvement showed by the individuals of this research concerning cognitive flexibility and also patterns of restricted behavior, social interaction, and communication abilities suggests that individuals with autism can benefit from the development of strategies for the enhancement of cognitive flexibility. Nevertheless, more research is suggested with a larger sample among subjects on the autism spectrum.
ABSTRACT
Abstract Autism is defined by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction in multiple contexts as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. There are also reported difficulties in the dynamic activation and modification of cognitive processes in response to changes in tasks' demands. Such difficulties are believed to be due to poor flexible cognition. This research aimed to assess and intervene in cognitive flexibility in subjects with autism. Ten subjects diagnosed with autism by psychiatrists, aged 5 years to 13 years and 5 months, were assessed in non-verbal intelligence through Raven's Progressive Matrices in pretest. They were also assessed in cognitive flexibility through Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and in patterns of social interactions, behaviors, and communication through Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). An intervention program of 14 to 21 sessions was established to enhance cognitive flexibility. In posttest, they were assessed in WCST and ADI-R. All measures of cognitive flexibility improved in posttest except for failure to maintain set. Among the measures improved in posttest, perseverative errors and responses improved in posttest with statistical significance as well as categories completed. Total scores on ADI-R were lower in posttest as well as scores on communication abilities. The qualitative improvement showed by the individuals of this research concerning cognitive flexibility and also patterns of restricted behavior, social interaction, and communication abilities suggests that individuals with autism can benefit from the development of strategies for the enhancement of cognitive flexibility. Nevertheless, more research is suggested with a larger sample among subjects on the autism spectrum.
Subject(s)
Humans , Child, Preschool , Child , Adolescent , Autistic Disorder/psychology , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Cognition , Play and Playthings/psychology , Child Development , Longitudinal Studies , Communication , Interpersonal RelationsABSTRACT
Esta pesquisa objetivou detectar e intervir em dificuldades de linguagem e comportamento em crianças frequentando pré-escolas, para prevenir problemas futuros, como o baixo desempenho acadêmico. Foram avaliadas 195 crianças em diversos comportamentos, 193 em vocabulário expressivo e receptivo e 187 em processamento auditivo central. Assim, 88 delas constituem o grupo experimental e foram envolvidas em uma intervenção para o desenvolvimento e refinamento de linguagem e comportamento por meio de atividades desenvolvidas em aplicativos usados em tablets e orientação fornecida a seus pais e professores por uma equipe profissional de fonoaudiólogos, psicólogos e psicopedagogos. As outras 99 crianças constituem o grupo controle. A fase de pós-teste aconteceu no início de 2015. Para o desenvolvimento e refinamento de vocabulário, processamento auditivo central e habilidades pró-sociais, um conjunto de atividades baseadas em aplicações que funcionam em tablets foram usadas e categorizadas em jogos, livros interativos por meio do toque, personagens respondendo ou repetindo o discurso da criança, discriminando e classificando diferentes sons e tarefas para lidar com emoções e sentimentos. Durante a fase de intervenção, após cada sessão, as crianças forneceram devolutivas sobre os aplicativos usados. Seus pais também foram requisitados a comentar, por meio de um questionário semiestruturado, sobre mudanças possíveis ou melhora no que se refere à linguagem e às habilidades comportamentais. A devolutiva deles e nossa observação sugerem que essas atividades aumentaram os comportamentos pró-sociais, como colaboração e maior apreciação para atividades sociais, e forneceram às crianças formas novas de expressão, englobando habilidades de discriminação auditiva e vocabulário.
This research aimed to detect and intervene in difficulties of language and behavior in four-year old children, attending preschools to prevent future problems such as academic underachievement. 195 children were evaluated in behavior, 193 in expressive and receptive vocabulary and 187 in central auditory processing. So, 88 constitute the experimental group and were engaged in an intervention for the development and refinement of language and behavior through activities developed in software used in tablets and orientation provided to their parents and teachers by a professional team of speech therapists, psychologists and psycho pedagogues. The other 99 children constitute the control group. Post-test phase took place in the beginning of 2015. For the development and refinement of vocabulary, central auditory processing and pro-social behavior skills, a set of activities based on applications that run on multitouch tablets were used and categorized into games; interactive touch books; characters responding or repeating the children`s speech; discriminating and classifying different sounds and tasks on dealing with emotions and feelings. During the intervention phase, after each session, the children provided us with feedback on the applications used. Their parents were also asked to comment, through a semi-structured questionnaire, on possible changes or improvements regarding children's language and behavioral skills. So far, their feedback and our observations suggest these activities increased pro-social behaviors such as collaboration and augmented appreciation for social activities, and provided children with novel forms of expression encompassing vocabulary and auditory discrimination skills.
Subject(s)
Humans , Child, Preschool , Child , Auditory Perception , Mobile Applications , Language Development , Social Behavior , Psychology, Experimental/methodsABSTRACT
Esta pesquisa objetivou detectar e intervir em dificuldades de linguagem e comportamento em crianças frequentando pré-escolas, para prevenir problemas futuros, como o baixo desempenho acadêmico. Foram avaliadas 195 crianças em diversos comportamentos, 193 em vocabulário expressivo e receptivo e 187 em processamento auditivo central. Assim, 88 delas constituem o grupo experimental e foram envolvidas em uma intervenção para o desenvolvimento e refinamento de linguagem e comportamento por meio de atividades desenvolvidas em aplicativos usados em tablets e orientação fornecida a seus pais e professores por uma equipe profissional de fonoaudiólogos, psicólogos e psicopedagogos. As outras 99 crianças constituem o grupo controle. A fase de pós-teste aconteceu no início de 2015. Para o desenvolvimento e refinamento de vocabulário, processamento auditivo central e habilidades pró-sociais, um conjunto de atividades baseadas em aplicações que funcionam em tablets foram usadas e categorizadas em jogos, livros interativos por meio do toque, personagens respondendo ou repetindo o discurso da criança, discriminando e classificando diferentes sons e tarefas para lidar com emoções e sentimentos. Durante a fase de intervenção, após cada sessão, as crianças forneceram devolutivas sobre os aplicativos usados. Seus pais também foram requisitados a comentar, por meio de um questionário semiestruturado, sobre mudanças possíveis ou melhora no que se refere à linguagem e às habilidades comportamentais. A devolutiva deles e nossa observação sugerem que essas atividades aumentaram os comportamentos pró-sociais, como colaboração e maior apreciação para atividades sociais, e forneceram às crianças formas novas de expressão, englobando habilidades de discriminação auditiva e vocabulário.(AU)
This research aimed to detect and intervene in difficulties of language and behavior in four-year old children, attending preschools to prevent future problems such as academic underachievement. 195 children were evaluated in behavior, 193 in expressive and receptive vocabulary and 187 in central auditory processing. So, 88 constitute the experimental group and were engaged in an intervention for the development and refinement of language and behavior through activities developed in software used in tablets and orientation provided to their parents and teachers by a professional team of speech therapists, psychologists and psycho pedagogues. The other 99 children constitute the control group. Post-test phase took place in the beginning of 2015. For the development and refinement of vocabulary, central auditory processing and pro-social behavior skills, a set of activities based on applications that run on multitouch tablets were used and categorized into games; interactive touch books; characters responding or repeating the children`s speech; discriminating and classifying different sounds and tasks on dealing with emotions and feelings. During the intervention phase, after each session, the children provided us with feedback on the applications used. Their parents were also asked to comment, through a semi-structured questionnaire, on possible changes or improvements regarding children's language and behavioral skills. So far, their feedback and our observations suggest these activities increased pro-social behaviors such as collaboration and augmented appreciation for social activities, and provided children with novel forms of expression encompassing vocabulary and auditory discrimination skills.(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Child, Preschool , Child , Language Development , Auditory Perception , Social Behavior , Mobile Applications , Psychology, Experimental/methodsABSTRACT
Este estudo avaliou a consciência sintática de dez sujeitos no espectro do autismo (com idades entre 5 anos e 7 meses e 14 anos e 8 meses) e investigou o papel que a consciência sintática desempenha nos padrões de linguagem desses sujeitos. Constatou-se a existência de diferentes perfis linguísticos por meio da Prova de Consciência Sintática (Adaptada). Foram detectados quatro subgrupos com: (a) desempenho inferior em correção de frases agramaticais e frases agramaticais e assemânticas; (b) desempenho inferior em correção de frases agramaticais e assemânticas; (c) desempenho mediano em todos os subtestes e acima da média em julgamento gramatical; e (d) desempenho superior nos quatro subtestes. Esses resultados não são generalizáveis para a população de sujeitos com autismo, mas revelaram evidências da interferência das falhas de habilidades presentes no espectro do autismo nas habilidades envolvidas na realização das tarefas. (AU)
Ten subjects on the autism spectrum (ages ranging from 5 years and 7 months and 14 years and 8 months) were evaluated with the aim of detecting the existence of syntactic awareness and the role it plays in the patterns of language of these subjects. The existence of different language profiles was found through the Syntactic Awareness Test (adapted version). Four subgroups were detected: (a) inferior performance in the correction of ungrammatical sentences and of ungrammatical and non-semantic sentences; (b) inferior performance in the correction of ungrammatical and non-semantic sentences; (c) average performance in all subtests and above average in grammatical judgment; and (d) superior performance in all four subtests. These results are not generalizable for subjects with autism, but reveal evidence of failures in abilities that are present on the autism spectrum with the abilities required for the accomplishment of the tasks. (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Child, Preschool , Child , Adolescent , Autism Spectrum Disorder/psychology , Language , Linguistics , Autistic Disorder/complicationsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To evaluate syntactic awareness, central coherence, non-verbal intelligence, social and communication development, interests and behavior of children with autistic spectrum disorders and to examine their probable correlations. METHODS: Participants were ten subjects diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder, eight male and two female, with ages between 4 years e 9 months and 13 years and 4 months (mean age 9 years), who used oral language for communication. The following tests were used: Syntactic Awareness Test - Adapted (Prova de Consciência Sintática - Adaptada), Computerized jigsaw puzzles with picture and background and only with background; and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices - Special Scale. Subjects' parents answered the protocol Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R). RESULTS: The children with autism presented syntactic awareness performance similar to that of 6-year-old children with typical development. Sixty percent of the subjects showed non-verbal intelligence at a superior or average level. There were no correlations between the performances in syntactic awareness and the other tested variables. CONCLUSION: There was no relationship between the performance in syntactic awareness and the results related to central coherence, non-verbal intelligence and social interaction deficits, difficulties in communication and restrict patterns interests of subjects with autism. The results suggest that these children seem to follow the development pattern of typically developing 6-year-old children in syntactic awareness abilities, only delayed.
Subject(s)
Autistic Disorder/psychology , Awareness/physiology , Language Development , Semantics , Verbal Behavior , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Cognition , Female , Humans , Language , Male , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
OBJETIVO: Avaliar consciência sintática, coerência central, inteligência não-verbal, desenvolvimento social e da comunicação, comportamentos e interesses de crianças no espectro autístico e verificar suas prováveis correlações. MÉTODOS: Participaram dez sujeitos diagnosticados dentro do espectro autístico, que utilizavam linguagem oral para a comunicação, sendo oito do gênero masculino e dois do gênero feminino, com idades entre 4 anos e 9 meses e 13 anos e 4 meses (média de idade de 9 anos). Foram utilizadas as provas de: Consciência Sintática (Adaptada); Quebra-cabeça computadorizados com figura e fundo e somente com fundo; e Matrizes Progressivas Coloridas de Raven - Escala Especial. Os pais dos sujeitos responderam ao protocolo Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R). RESULTADOS: As crianças com autismo apresentaram desempenho em consciência sintática similar ao de crianças de desenvolvimento típico com 6 anos de idade. Do total, 60 por cento das crianças apresentaram nível de inteligência não-verbal médio ou superior. Não houve correlações entre os desempenhos em consciência sintática e as outras variáveis testadas. CONCLUSÃO: Não houve relação entre o desempenho em consciência sintática e os resultados referentes a coerência central, inteligência não-verbal, falhas na interação social, dificuldades de comunicação e padrões restritos de interesses dos sujeitos com autismo. Os resultados fornecem indicações de que essas crianças parecem acompanhar o padrão de desenvolvimento em consciência sintática das crianças de desenvolvimento típico de 6 anos de idade, porém com atraso.
PURPOSE: To evaluate syntactic awareness, central coherence, non-verbal intelligence, social and communication development, interests and behavior of children with autistic spectrum disorders and to examine their probable correlations. METHODS: Participants were ten subjects diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder, eight male and two female, with ages between 4 years e 9 months and 13 years and 4 months (mean age 9 years), who used oral language for communication. The following tests were used: Syntactic Awareness Test - Adapted (Prova de Consciência Sintática - Adaptada), Computerized jigsaw puzzles with picture and background and only with background; and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices - Special Scale. Subjects' parents answered the protocol Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R). RESULTS: The children with autism presented syntactic awareness performance similar to that of 6-year-old children with typical development. Sixty percent of the subjects showed non-verbal intelligence at a superior or average level. There were no correlations between the performances in syntactic awareness and the other tested variables. CONCLUSION: There was no relationship between the performance in syntactic awareness and the results related to central coherence, non-verbal intelligence and social interaction deficits, difficulties in communication and restrict patterns interests of subjects with autism. The results suggest that these children seem to follow the development pattern of typically developing 6-year-old children in syntactic awareness abilities, only delayed.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Autistic Disorder/psychology , Awareness/physiology , Language Development , Semantics , Verbal Behavior , Cognition , Language , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
As falhas na comunicação têm sido bastante avaliadas entre sujeitos do espectro autístico por fornecerem, por um lado, parâmetros para diagnóstico e indicações para intervenções e, por outro, por ajudarem no entendimento de como o desenvolvimento da linguagem acontece, de maneira geral. No entanto, grande parte das pesquisas tem se ocupado de investigar o uso que sujeitos no espectro autístico fazem da linguagem, ou seja, a pragmática. Os estudos que investigam a linguagem em seus aspectos formais, em especial, a sintaxe, têm revelado resultados contraditórios. Assim, este estudo teve como objetivo geral oferecer um melhor entendimento do papel que a consciência sintática desempenha nas dificuldades de linguagem de crianças e adolescentes no espectro autístico e como esse desempenho pode estar relacionado aos prejuízos cognitivos que o fundamentam. A consciência sintática, a coerência central, a inteligência não-verbal e as falhas na comunicação, interação social e presença de comportamentos estereotipados e interesses restritos foram investigados. Foram sujeitos da pesquisa 10 indivíduos diagnosticados dentro do espectro autístico, por psiquiatras, de acordo com os critérios propostos pelo DSM-IV e pela CID-10. Dentre os 10 sujeitos, oito (80%) eram do gênero masculino e dois (20%) eram do gênero feminino, com idade entre 4 anos e 9 meses e 13 anos e 4 meses. O Estudo 1 avaliou os sujeitos no espectro autístico em consciência sintática, coerência central, Inteligência não-verbal, desenvolvimento social, da comunicação, comportamentos e interesses, por meio dos resultados da Prova de Consciência Sintática -Adaptada, de quebra-cabeças informáticos com figura e fundo e somente com fundo, do teste Matrizes Coloridas de Raven e das respostas fornecidas pelos pais dos sujeitos na Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised (ADI-R) e verificou as prováveis relações entre essas variáveis. O Estudo 2 verificou a existência de diferentes perfis linguísticos com relação...
Deficits in communication have been widely evaluated among autistic spectrum subjects for providing, on the one hand, parameters for diagnosis and indications for interventions and, on the other, for helping understand how the language development takes place, in general. However, a big part of the research has investigated the use that autistic spectrum subjects make of the language, i.e. the pragmatics. The studies that investigate the language in its formal aspects, specially, the syntax, have revealed contradictory results. So, the main general aim of this study was to offer a better understanding of the role that the syntactic awareness plays in the language difficulties of autistic spectrum children and adolescents and how this development can be related to the cognitive deficits that substantiate it. The syntactic awareness, the central coherence, the non-verbal intelligence the deficits in communication and social interaction as well as the presence of stereotyped behaviors and restricted interests were investigated. Subjects were ten individuals with diagnosis included in the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), by psychiatrists, according to the DSM-IV and the CID-10 criteria. Among the 10 subjects, eight (80%) were of the male gender and two (20%) were of the female gender, with ages varying between 4:9 y and 13:4 y. Study 1 evaluated the autistic spectrum subjects in syntactic awareness, central coherence, non-verbal intelligence, social and communication development, behavior and interests through the results of the Syntactic Awareness Test Adapted (Prova de Consciência Sintática Adaptada), of computerized jigsaw puzzles with picture and background and computerized jigsaw puzzles with only a background, of the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices Test and of the answers given by the subjects parents in the Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised (ADI-R) and verified the probable relationship among these variables. The study 2] verified the...
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Child, Preschool , Child , Adolescent , Autistic Disorder , Cognition , Language , Language DevelopmentABSTRACT
O propósito dessa dissertação foi contribuir para estandardizar e validar cinco testes desenvolvidos por Capovilla e colaboradores para avaliar cinco competências de linguagem: 1) leitura de itens isolados (reconhecimento e decodificação), 2) compreensão de leitura de sentenças, 3) vocabulário auditivo receptivo, 4) consciência fonológica (por produção oral e escolha de figuras), e 5) consciência sintática. Foram conduzidos dois estudos com alunos de uma escola municipal de ensino fundamental de Santos, SP. No Estudo 1, conduzido em 2003, alunos de Ia. a 3a. série foram avaliados em quatro testes, nessa ordem: TCLPP, TCLS, TVfusp, PCF-O. No Estudo 2, conduzido em 2004, 836 alunos de Ia a 4a. série foram avaliados em cinco testes nessa ordem: TCLPP, TCLS, PCF-F, PCF-O, PCS. Cinco testes foram padronizados e validados: 1) Teste de Leitura Silenciosa de Palavras e Pseudopalavras (TCLPP), 2) Teste de Compreensão de Leitura de Sentenças (TCLS), 3) Teste de Vocabulário por Figuras USP (TVfusp), 4) Prova de Consciência Fonológica por Produção Oral (PCF-O), 5) Prova de Consciência Fonológica por Escolha de Figuras (PCF-F), 6) Prova de Consciência Sintática (PCS). TCLPP compõe-se de 70 tentativas, cada qual com uma figura e um item escrito. A tarefa é aceitar pares corretos e rejeitar os incorretos. Há sete subtestes: 1) aceitar palavras grafofonemicamente regulares CR, 2) aceitar palavras grafofonemicamente irregulares CI, 3) rejeitar palavras que diferem das figuras (...)
... a eles associadas VS, 4) rejeitar pseudopalavras homófonas PH, 5) rejeitar pseudopalavras estranhas PE, 6) rejeitar pseudopalavras visualmente semelhantes aos nomes das figuras VV, 7) rejeitar pseudopalavras fonologicamente semelhantes aos nomes das figuras VF. PCF-O compõe-se de dez subtestes: rima, aliteração, sínteses silábica e fonêmica, segmentações silábica e fonêmica, transposições silábica e fonêmica. PCF-F compõe-se de nove subtestes: rima, aliteração, adições silábica e fonêmica, subtrações silábica e fonêmica, transposições silábica e fonêmica intra-palavras, e transposições silábica e fonêmica entre palavras. PCF-O e PCF-F diferem principalmente em termos do modo de resposta requerida: pronúncia na PCF-O e escolha de figuras na PCF-F. PCS compõe-se de quatro subtestes: julgar a adequação gramatical, corrigir a gramaticalidade de sentenças gramaticalmente inadequadas, corrigir a gramaticalidade de sentenças inadequadas tanto em gramática quanto em semântica, categorizar palavras. No Estudo 1, 725 alunos foram avaliados no TCLPP, 725 no TCLS, 629 no TVfusp, e 88 no PCF-O. Escores foram analisados como função da série escolar (Ia. a 38), idade e sexo. Escores médios e desvio-padrão de cada teste e subteste foram obtidos para cada série escolar (Ia. a 38), o que permitiu obter tabelas de dados normativos de cada teste e subteste. Finalmente, foi feita validação cruzada de todos os quatro testes e respectivos subtestes. No Estudo 2, 836 alunos foram sujeitos ao TCLPP, 809 ao TCLS, 697 à PCF-F, 453 à PCF-O, e 436 à PCS. Escores foram analisados como função de série escolar (1ª. a 4ª. série), idade e sexo. Escores médio e desvio-padrão de cada teste e subteste foram obtidos para cada série (1ª. a 4ª.), o que permitiu obter tabelas de dados normativos de cada teste e subteste. Finalmente, foi feita validação cruzada de todos os quatro testes e respectivos subtestes
The purpose of this dissertation was to contribute to the standardization and validation of five tests developed by Capovilla and coworkers for assessing five language competences: 1) reading (visual recognition and decoding) of isolated items, 2) sentence reading comprehension, 3) receptive auditory vocabulary, 4) phonological awareness (pronunciation and picture matching), 5) syntactic awareness. Two studies were conducted with students from a municipal elementary school of Santos city, in Sao Paulo State. In Study 1, conducted in 2003, 725 1st to 3rd grade students were evaluated in four tests in this order: TCLPP, TCLS, TVfusp, PCF-O. In Study 2, conducted in 2004, 836 1st to 4rd grade students were evaluated in five tests in this order: TCLPP, TCLS, PCF-F, PCF-O, PCS. Five tests were standardized and validated: 1) Silent Reading Competence Test of Words and Non-words (TCLPP), 2) Sentence Reading Comprehension Test (TCLS), 3) Sao Paulo Pictute Vocabulary Test (TVfusp), 4) Phonological Awareness Test: Pronunciation (PCF-O), 5) Phonological Awareness Test: Picture Matching (PCF-F), 6) Syntactic Awareness Test (PCS). TCLPP is made of 70 trials, each one made of a print and picture pair. The task is accepting correct pairs and rejecting incorrect ones. There are seven subtests: 1) accepting regularly-spelled correct words CR, 2) accepting irregularly-spelled correct words CL, 3) rejecting words different from pictures that appear associated with VS, 4) rejecting homophone non-words PH, 5) rejecting strange non-words PE, 6) rejecting non-words that look similar to the names of associated pictures VV, 7) rejecting non-words that sound similar to the names of associated pictures VF. PCF-O is made of ten (...)
... subtests: rhyming, alliterating, synthesizing syllables and phonemes, segmenting syllables and phonemes, exchanging syllables and phonemes. PCF-F is made of nine subtests: rhyming, alliterating, adding syllables and phonemes, subtracting syllables and phonemes, exchanging syllables and phonemes within words, exchanging syllables and phonemes between words. PCF-O and PCF-F differ mainly with respect to the response mode required: pronunciation in the former and picture matching in the latter. PCS is made of four subtests: judging grammatical adequacy, correcting grammatical inadequacy, correcting grammatical inadequacy while preserving semantic inadequacy, word categorization. In Study 1, 725 students were subjected to TCLPP, 725 to TCLS, 629 to TVfusp, and 88 to PCF-O. Scores were analyzed as a function of grade level (1st. to 3rd grade), age and gender, Mean scores and standard deviation of each test and subtest were obtained for each grade (1 st to 3rd) and permitted obtaining standardized tables of each test and subtest. Finally, all four tests and respective subtests were cross-validated. In Study 2, 836 students were subjected to TCLPP, 809 to TCLS, 697 to PCF-F, 453 to PCF-O, and 436 to PCS. Scores were analyzed as a function of grade level (1st to 4rd grade), age and gender. Mean scores and standard deviation of each test and subtest were obtained for each grade (1st to 4rd) and permitted obtaining standardized tables of each test and subtest. Finally, all four tests and respective subtests were cross-validated
