COMMUNICATIONS
Fernández-Méndez, L.M., Del Olmo, S., Elosúa, M.R., & Contreras, M.J. Differences in executive functioning in children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). International Conference Cognitive Neuroscience of Executive Functions (CNEF), 2017, Padova. (ABSTRACT)
Contreras, M.J., Ciudad, M.J., & Elosúa, M.R. Cambio atencional y función ejecutiva visoespacial en pacientes con deterioro cognitivo leve y enfermedad de alzheimer: efectos del deterioro y del género. Reunión Científica sobre Atención (Reca 11), 2017, Jaén. (ABSTRACT)
Fernández-Méndez, L.M., Elosúa, M.R., & Contreras, M.J. Comparison of mental rotation training effects depending on the initial level of spatial skills in preschoolers. 20th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP), 2017, Potsdam. (ABSTRACT)
Fernández-Méndez, L.M., Contreras, M.J, & Elosúa, M.R. Comparación de la efectividad de un entrenamiento en Rotación Mental en preescolares de 3 y 5 años. IV Foro de Investigadores Nóveles UNED, 2017, Madrid. (ABSTRACT)
Rodán, A., Contreras, M.J., & Montoro, P.R. Las rotaciones mentales las carga el diablo (y los videojuegos): diferencias entre sexos en el Mental Rotation Test en estudiantes de Ingeniería Biomédica. IV Foro de Investigadores Nóveles UNED, 2017, Madrid. (ABSTRACT)
Fernández-Méndez, L.M, Elosúa, M.R., & Contreras, M.J. Entrenamiento de Rotación Mental en preescolares de 3 y 5 años: efectividad y desarrollo evolutivo. I International CIMCYC Workshop: from representations to cognitive theory, 2017, Granada. (ABSTRACT)
Contreras, M.J., Elosúa, M.R., Fernández-Méndez, L.M., Gimeno, P., Rodán, A., & Martínez-Molina, A. Efectos experimentales, y no del sexo, en el entrenamiento de la capacidad espacial en distintos ciclos educativos. IV Congreso de la Sociedad Científica de Psicología de Chile, 2017, Puerto Natales. (ABSTRACT)
Martínez-Molina, A., Arias, V.B., Castillo, R., Plaza, V., Meza, E., Contreras, M.J., & Elosúa, M.R. Mental rotation training and its effect on cognitive performance in college students. EPS/SEPEX Oxford meeting, 2016, Oxford. (ABSTRACT)
Fernández-Méndez, L.M., Contreras, M.J, & Elosúa, M.R. Effect of angular disparity in mental rotation training in preschoolers of 1st year of Preschool. VIII International Congress of Psychology and Education (CIPE), 2016, Alicante. (ABSTRACT)
Fernández-Méndez, L.M., Contreras, M.J, & Elosúa, M.R. Researching equality: the effects of Mental Rotation training on Preschool Education with absence of differences between boys and girls. International Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, 2016, Granada. (ABSTRACT)
Fernández-Méndez, L.M., Elosúa, M.R., & Contreras, M.J. Explorando las habilidades espaciales: efecto de un entrenamiento en Rotación Mental y su relación con diversas aptitudes cognitivas en niños/as de 3 y 4 años en el primer curso de educación infantil. IV Jornada de la Asociación Iberoamericana para la Investigación de las Diferencias Individuales (AIIDI), 2015, Madrid. (ABSTRACT)
Marmolejo-Ramos, F., Montoro, P.R., Contreras, M.J., & Elosúa.The mapping of emotion words onto space. A cross-modal study. VI International Conference of Spatial Cognition (ICSC), 2015, Rome. (ABSTRACT)
Rodán, A., Contreras, M.J., Elosúa, M.R, Gimeno, P., Montoro, P.R. y Martínez-Molina, A. Performance in a Mental Rotation Training Program and its relation to general intelligence and visuo-spatial and numerical skills in 14 and 15-years-old adolescents. The 14th European Congress of Psychology (ECP), 2015. Milan. (ABSTRACT)
Contreras, M.J., Elosúa, M.R., Peinado, M., Montoro, P.R. Estudio de seguimiento en pacientes Alzheimer sobre el efecto de supresión en tareas de amplitud de memoria.(Tracking study on the suppression effect in memory span tasks in Alzheimer patients). SEPEX-SEPNECA, 2014, Murcia. (ABSTRACT)
Gimeno, P., Contreras, M.J., Elosúa, M.R. y Rodán, A. Efecto del sexo en un programa de intervención en habilidades viso-espaciales y su relación con las matemáticas en estudiantes de 2º curso de Educación Primaria Obligatoria.(Effects of gender on an Intervention Program on visuospatial abilities and their relation to mathematics and working memory in students of 2nd Year of Compulsory Primary Education (CPE)). SEPEX-SEPNECA 2014, Murcia. (ABSTRACT)
Rodán, A., Elosúa, M.R., Contreras, M.J. y Gimeno, P. Efecto del entrenamiento en las habilidades viso-espaciales y su relación con las matemáticas en estudiantes de 3º curso de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. (Effect of training in visuospatial abilities and their relation to mathematics in 3rd year students of Secondary Education (CSE)). SEPEX-SEPNECA 2014. (ABSTRACT)
Montoro, P.R., Contreras, M.J., Elosúa, M.R. y Marmolejo-Ramos, F. Cognición corpórea transmodal: interacción entre palabras emocionales auditivas y el eje visoespacial vertical.(Transmodal bodily cognition: interaction between emotional auditory words and the vertical visuospatial axis.) SEPEX-SEPNECA 2014, Murcia. (ABSTRACT)
Contreras, M.J., Elosúa, M.R., Peinado, M., and Montoro, P.R. The effect of the suppression' executive demands in visuospatial and verbal span tasks in Alzheimer patients and healthy elderly. SEPEX-BAPS Meeting 2012, Lieja. (ABSTRACT)
ABSTRACT
International Conference Cognitive Neuroscience of Executive Functions, 28-30 September, 2017.
Laura M. Fernández-Méndez1, Sandra Del Olmo1, Mª Rosa Elosúa1, & Mª José Contreras1.
1. UNED, España.
Differences in executive functioning in children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
In recent years, the interest in Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and its relation to deficits in working memory and more specifically the different executive functions has grown, to the point of confirming that these are quite frequent in this disorder. The aim of this study was precisely to explore differences in executive functioning of working memory in 4th grade Primary school children with and without ADHD, introducing rigorous control measures in the tests used. Four executive functions were analyzed: divided attention, updating, attentional shifting and inhibition, measured through four tasks, the dual-task paradigm (digits and box-crossing), the N-Back task, the Trail Making Test (TMT) and the Stroop task, respectively. The results showed that participants with ADHD, compared with controls, exhibited a smaller verbal memory span as well as deficits in the attentional shifting and updating functions. However, a similar performance for the executive function of inhibition was found for both groups of participants. Finally, an unexpected result was obtained with regard to the role of divided attention, as children with ADHD were less impaired when performing the double task than participants in the control group.
Reunión Científica sobre Atención (Jaén, Spain), 28-30 September, 2017.
Mª José Contreras1, Mª José Ciudad2, & Mª Rosa Elosúa1.
1. UNED, España.
2. Badalona Serveis Assistencials, España
Cambio atencional y Función Ejecutiva visoespacial en pacientes con Deterioro Cognitivo Leve y Enfermedad de Alzheimer: efectos del deterioro y del género
No es frecuente encontrar estudios que analicen el efecto de diferencias entre sexos en Funciones Ejecutivas atencionales y visoespaciales en la evolución del envejecimiento cognitivo al patológico. En el estudio que se presenta, la muestra estuvo formada por 90 participantes; 30 pacientes con Enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA), 30 pacientes con Deterioro cognitivo Leve (DCL) y 30 ancianos sanos (50% de la muestra total fueron hombres y 50% mujeres). El objetivo del estudio fue analizar las diferencias medias de ejecución en función de las variables sexo y grupo de deterioro, esperando un menor rendimiento de las mujeres en la tarea con carga visoespacial y un deterioro progresivo de la ejecución con el mayor grado de deterioro patológico. Se aplicó el Test del Reloj, test cognitivo breve que mide la función visoespacial y ejecutiva, en las condiciones de Test del reloj a la orden, (TRO) y Test del reloj a la copia (TRC). Por otro lado, se aplicó el Trail Making Test, partes A y B, que mide la función ejecutiva del cambio atencional. Según lo esperado, se encontró un efecto principal del grupo en todas las tareas, con un peor rendimiento progresivo según el deterioro. En cuanto al efecto del sexo se encontraron diferencias significativas en el rendimiento del grupo EA, a favor de las mujeres. También se encontró un efecto de interacción grupo x sexo, explicada por un mejor rendimiento de
los varones en los grupos DCL y Control, y de las mujeres EA. Los resultados se discuten relacionando el anormal rendimiento de las mujeres EA de la muestra en términos de posible reserva cognitiva por extracto social y educativo en su contexto sociocultural y generacional.
20th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (Potsdam, Germany), 3-6 September, 2017.
Laura M. Fernández-Méndez1, Mª Rosa Elosúa1, & Mª José Contreras1.
1. UNED, España.
Comparison of mental rotation training effects depending on the initial level of spatial skills in preschoolers
Background. The strong relationship between STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and Mental Rotation (MR) has resulted in an increasing interest in knowing the age at which it is developed, and in its possibilities of improvement. Several studies have shown the effectivity of MR training, as well as a greater improvement in participants with a lower initial ability. However, studies focusing on Preschool children are still very scarce. The present work aims to analyze the effectiveness of MR training, comparing the effect in children with high and low initial spatial ability in 1st and 3rd year of Preschool Education.
Method. A total of 58 1st year Preschoolers and 60 3rd year. Preschoolers took part, of which 29 and 30 children, respectively, performed a MR training with different angular disparities.
Results. A significant improvement in MR of the training group with respect to the control group was found for both courses, with a slightly higher effect size in 3rd year Preschoolers. With regard to training benefit, only 3rd year Preschoolers with lower initial ability showed a statistically significant improvement in comparison with those with higher initial spatial ability.
Discussion. Both age groups showed MR enhancement after training, proving that it is not only possible for children in these age groups to perform MR processes, but it is also possible to promote them. Furthermore, the differential improvement in favor of children with lower initial spatial ability in the older group shows that from such an early stage, those less skilled can be reinforced to improve their spatial abilities.
IV Foro de Investigadores Noveles UNED (Madrid, Spain), 25-26 April, 2017.
Laura M. Fernández-Méndez1, Mª José Contreras1, & Mª Rosa Elosúa1.
1. UNED, España.
Comparación de la efectividad de un entrenamiento en Rotación Mental en preescolares de 3 y 5 años
La rotación mental (RM) ha ido adquiriendo relevancia gracias a su relación con disciplinas académicas como las ciencias o las matemáticas, derivando en un creciente interés por saber cuándo se desarrolla esta capacidad y sus posibilidades de mejora. Actualmente no existe consenso en cuanto a la edad en la que surge la RM y la efectividad de un entrenamiento. Se analizará la efectividad de un entrenamiento en RM y las diferencias en el rendimiento entre los cursos 1º y 3º de Infantil. En el estudio, participaron 58 niños/as de 1º Infantil y 60 de 3º Infantil, de los que 29 y 30 niños/as respectivamente, realizaron un entrenamiento con diferentes disparidades angulares. Se encontró una mejora significativa de la RM en el grupo entrenado en relación al control en ambos cursos, con un tamaño del efecto ligeramente superior en 3º Infantil. El análisis del entrenamiento mostró una diferencia significativa a favor de 3º Infantil en todas las disparidades angulares excepto en 30º. Ambos cursos mejoraron la RM tras el entrenamiento, por tanto, no solo pueden realizar procesos de RM, sino que tienen la capacidad de potenciarlos. Además, el rendimiento diferencial indicó cómo la RM se encuentra desarrollándose en esta etapa.
IV Foro de Investigadores Noveles UNED (Madrid, Spain), 25-26 April, 2017.
Antonio Rodán1,2, Mª José Contreras1, & Pedro R. Montoro1.
1. UNED, España.
2. Universidad CEU San Pablo, España.
Las rotaciones mentales las carga el diablo (y los videojuegos): diferencias entre sexos en el Mental Rotation Test en estudiantes de Ingeniería Biomédica
Estudios realizados en las últimas décadas han demostrado que la capacidad espacial puede ser determinante para elegir titulación y alcanzar el éxito en áreas relacionadas con las disciplinas STEM (Ciencias, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas). Es frecuente encontrar una baja tasa de alumnas matriculadas en titulaciones relacionadas con estas disciplinas, lo cual se ha asociado con un rendimiento promedio menor de sus capacidades espaciales, comparadas con los hombres.
El objetivo de este estudio es analizar algunos factores, tales como la capacidad espacial, la experiencia previa, las estrategias, o la influencia motivacional, en estudiantes universitarios de una titulación relacionada con las disciplinas STEM, la Ingeniería Biomédica. Se analizarán las diferencias de sexo en estas variables y las correlaciones entre las medidas evaluadas. Los resultados mostraron diferencias significativas entre chicos y chicas en el Mental Rotation Test (MRT) y en distintas medidas de experiencia con videojuegos. Por otro lado, se encontraron correlaciones significativas entre el rendimiento en el MRT y estrategias para la orientación, así como con la frecuencia de uso de algunas aplicaciones informáticas. Se discutirán los resultados en el contexto de las posibilidades futuras de potenciar la mejora de la capacidad de rotación mental y el vínculo con las disciplinas STEM.
I International CIMCYC Workshop (Granada, Spain), 19-20 April, 2017.
Laura M. Fernández-Méndez1, Mª Rosa Elosúa1, & Mª José Contreras1.
1. UNED, España.
Entrenamiento de Rotación Mental en preescolares de 3 y 5 años: efectividad y desarrollo evolutivo.
Introducción. La rotación mental (RM) ha ido adquiriendo relevancia gracias a su relación con disciplinas académicas como las ciencias, tecnología, ingeniería y matemáticas (disciplinas STEM, en inglés), derivando en un creciente interés por saber cuándo se desarrolla esta capacidad y sus posibilidades de mejora. La maleabilidad de las habilidades espaciales en distintos periodos vitales contrasta con la escasez de estudios en la etapa preescolar. Actualmente no existe consenso en cuanto a la edad en la que surge la RM y si en edades tempranas es efectivo un entrenamiento.
Objetivos. Se analizará la efectividad de un entrenamiento en RM y las diferencias en el rendimiento entre los cursos 1º y 3º de Infantil.
Método. Participaron 58 niños/as de 1º de Infantil y 60 de 3º de Infantil, de los que 29 y 30 niños/as respectivamente, realizaron un entrenamiento en RM con diferentes disparidades angulares (30º, 60º, 90º, 120º, 150º y 180º).
Resultados. Se encontró una mejora significativa de la RM en el grupo entrenado en relación al grupo control en ambos cursos con un tamaño del efecto ligeramente superior en 3º de Infantil. Respecto al análisis del entrenamiento, hubo una diferencia significativa a favor de 3º de Infantil en todas las disparidades angulares excepto en 30º.
Conclusiones. Ambos cursos mejoraron la RM tras el entrenamiento, por lo que no solo pueden realizar procesos de RM, sino que tienen la capacidad de potenciarlos. Además, el rendimiento diferencial en el entrenamiento indicó cómo la RM se encuentra en pleno desarrollo en esta etapa.
IV Congreso de la Sociedad Científica de Psicología de Chile (Puerto Natales, Chile), 29-31 March, 2017.
Mª José Contreras1, Mª Rosa Elosua1, Laura Mª Fernández-Méndez1, Patricia Gimeno1,2, Antonio Rodán1,3, & Agustín Martínez-Molina4.
1. UNED, España.
2. Ministerio de Educación, España.
2. Universidad CEU San Pablo, España.
3. Universidad de Talca, Chile.
Efectos experimentales, y no del sexo, en el entrenamiento de la capacidad espacial en distintos ciclos educativos.
El entrenamiento de las capacidades espaciales podría favorecer el acceso a las disciplinas STEM (Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas). Se resumirán los resultados de distintas investigaciones realizadas por los autores, aplicando la misma metodología en distintas edades (desde educación infantil hasta la universidad). Con una sesión de evaluación pretest, tres sesiones de entrenamiento en Rotación Mental y una sesión postest, demostramos la mejora de la capacidad espacial en todos los grupos de edad evaluados. Estas diferencias son significativamente superiores en el grupo experimental respecto a otro control no entrenado. Además, solo se observó efecto de diferencias entre sexos en el grupo de estudiantes de primaria. Estos resultados, contrarios a la consistencia observada en la literatura, se discutirán en el contexto de uso de nuevas tecnologías que potencian el acceso igualitario para ambos sexos (p.ej aplicaciones en smartphones), que podrían estar ayudando a reducir la brecha de género en capacidad espacial.
EPS/SEPEX Oxford meeting (Oxford, United Kingdom), 8-10 July, 2016.
Agustín Martínez-Molina1, Victor Benito Arias1, Ramón Castillo1, Victoria Plaza2, Elizabeth Meza2, Mª José Contreras3, and Mª Rosa Elosua3.
1. Universidad de Talca, Chile.
2. Universidad Autónoma, Chile.
3. UNED, Spain.
Mental rotation training and its effect on cognitive performance in college students.
This study reports the changes in Working Memory (WM) and Intelligence measures after a short training program in visual exercises of Mental Rotation (MR). MR has been proposed as a key process of the general cognitive performance (Johnson & Bouchard, 2005). The training program considered a Differential Outcome Procedure (DOP; Trapold, 1970) that improve discriminative learning and memory performance through paring a unique reward with a specific stimulus. A within-subjects design of four equidistant MR training sessions during a week was conducted. Pre and post MR parallel form measures of WM (Dot-Matrix, Computation-Span) and Intelligence (DAT-SR, DAT-AR) were also collected. A total of 20 college students participated in this study voluntarily. A linear increase of MR correct answers (and a decrease of response time) was found (Fcorrect (1, 19) = 9.84, p < .001, ηp2 = .34; Ftime (1, 19) = 1.89, p < .001, ηp2 = .36; Post-hoc power of a linear effect was 0.88). Repeated measures tests also showed a general increase of WM and DAT-SR; tDot(19) = -2.64, p = .020, d =.59; tSpan(19) = -2.72, p = .010, d =.61; tDAT-SR(19) = -2.53, p = .020, d =.57. No significant improvement between DAT-AR measures was found.
VIII International Congress of Psychology and Education (Alicante, Spain), 15-17 June, 2016.
Laura M. Fernández-Méndez1, Mª José Contreras1, and Mª Rosa Elosúa1.
1. UNED, Spain.
Effect of angular disparity in mental rotation training in preschoolers of 1st year of Preschool.
Introduction. Mental Rotation (MR) is a spatial ability that has become increasingly relevant in the educational field, given the relationship between spatial skills and the success in several academic disciplines such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM disciplines). Nowadays, there is evidence that spatial skills training leads to an improvement of such skills, although studies on Infant Stage children are scarce, with no consensus regarding the age at which preschoolers begin to carry out MR processes. Furthermore, a classic result in the MR studies is the increase in task difficulty in relation to the increase in the degrees of rotation. Therefore, a greater difficulty is hypothesized as the angular disparity between the target and the comparison stimulus increases. We will analyze whether this finding is replicated for our age group.
Goals. We will observe the effectiveness of a MR training and we will analyze the accuracy of the response in relation to angular disparity.
Method. In this study, 58 preschoolers aged between 3 and 4 years old took part, 29 of which conducted a MR training program over 3 sessions.
Results. A significant MR improvement was observed for the experimental group relative to the control group. Regarding the analysis of the training sessions, a progressive decrease in the response accuracy with increasing angular disparity was found.
Conclusions. Preschoolers in the 1st year of kindergarten not only perform MR processes, but can even train and improve this ability at such an early stage, which can be enhanced throughout the Educational System to positively impact future learning and success in the STEM disciplines.
International Meeting of the Psychonomic Society (Granada, Spain), 5-8 May, 2016.
Laura M. Fernández-Méndez1, Mª José Contreras1, and Mª Rosa Elosúa1.
1. UNED, Spain.
Researching equality: the effects of Mental Rotation training on Preschool Education with absence of differences between boys and girls.
Mental rotation (MR) is one of the most studied spatial skills in spatial cognition. However, controversy remains concerning its onset in development, its susceptibility to training, the mean differences between sexes and its relationship with other cognitive skills. To date, there is evidence that spatial skills training leads to their improvement (Uttal et al., 2012), although studies with infants are rare. The present study aims to observe the effectiveness of MR training and its relationship with various tasks involving various aspects of cognition such as visualization (VZ), the visuospatial working memory in infancy (VSWM), fluid intelligence (Gf) and basic mathematical literacy (BML) in the 1st year of preschool. A total of 58 children aged between 3 and 4 years took part in this study, 29 of which conducted a MR training program over 3 sessions. The training effectiveness in the experimental group compared to the control group, as well as gender differences before and after training were analyzed. The results showed significant improvement of mental rotation ability in the experimental group measured through a test different to the test used in training. No differences between sexes were found or between groups on tasks that measured visualization, fluid intelligence, mathematical literacy or visual-spatial working memory. As previous studies and meta-analysis have shown, these results support the malleability of spatial skills and can help implement education policies related to spatial skills.
IV AIIDI (Madrid, Spain), 24-25 September, 2015.
Laura M. Fernández-Méndez1, Mª Rosa Elosúa1, and Mª José Contreras1.
1. UNED, Spain.
Explorando las habilidades espaciales: efecto de un entrenamiento en Rotación Mental y su relación con diversas aptitudes cognitivas en niños/as de 3 y 4
años en el primer curso de educación infantil.
La Rotación Mental (RM) es una de las habilidades espaciales más estudiadas en la cognición espacial, sin embargo permanece la controversia relativa a su inicio en el desarrollo, así como la susceptibilidad al entrenamiento, las diferencias medias entre grupos de sexo y su relación con otras aptitudes cognitivas. En la actualidad hay evidencia de que el entrenamiento en habilidades espaciales conduce a una mejora de éstas, aunque los estudios con niños/as en etapa infantil son muy escasos. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo observar la efectividad de un entrenamiento en RM y su relación con diferentes tareas que involucran varios aspectos de la cognición como son la visualización, la inteligencia fluida, la competencia matemática y la memoria operativa en el 1er curso de educación infantil. Participaron 58 niñas/os de 3 y 4 años, de los que 29 realizaron un programa de entrenamiento en RM a lo largo de 3 sesiones. Se analizó la efectividad del entrenamiento en el grupo experimental con respecto al grupo control, así como las diferencias entre sexos antes y después del entrenamiento. Los resultados mostraron una mejora significativa de la capacidad de Rotación Mental en el grupo experimental medida a través de un test distinto al entrenado, así como la inexistencia de diferencias entre grupos sexo. Además, no hubo diferencias entre los grupos en las tareas que midieron visualización, inteligencia fluida, competencia matemática o memoria operativa. Estos resultados apoyan la maleabilidad de las capacidades espaciales, lo que puede ser potenciado en nuestro sistema educativo.
VI ICSC Conference (Rome, Italy), 7-11 September, 2015.
Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos1, Pedro R. Montoro2, M.J. Contreras2, and Mª Rosa Elosúa2.
1. Stockholm University, Sweden
2. UNED, Spain
The mapping of emotion words onto space. A cross-modal study
Background: previous studies have reported evidence supporting a metaphorical mapping of emotion concepts onto a vertical spatial axis. Most of the work on this topic has used visual words as the typical experimental stimuli. However, to our knowledge, no previous study has examined the association between affect and vertical space by using a cross-modal procedure. In the present study, we examined whether auditory words with an emotional valence can interact with vertical visual space according to a ‘positive-up/negative-down’ embodied metaphor.
Aims: to investigate whether the mapping of emotion words onto visual space holds when those words are presented auditorily.
Method: in Experiment 1 participants passively listened to the emotion words prior to detecting the position of a target on the vertical axis. In Experiment 2 participants actively listened to the emotion words to determine their valence (emotional group) or identify whether the first letter of the word was a vowel or a consonant (non-emotional group) prior to detecting the vertical position of the target.
Results: while in Experiment 1 no reliable interaction between emotion concepts and bodily space occurred, such an interaction emerged in Experiment 2, only when participants were engaged in an emotion-focused task. Interestingly, there was no main effect of the between-subjects factor group showing similar global RTs in both emotional and non-emotional tasks.
The 14th ECP Conference (Milan, Italy). 7-10 July, 2015.
Antonio Rodán1, Mª José Contreras 2, Mª Rosa Elosúa2, Patricia Gimeno3, Pedro R. Montoro2, and Agustín Martínez-Molina4
1. Universidad CEU-San Pablo (Spain).
2. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED, Spain).
3. Ministerio de Educación (Spain).
4. Universidad de Talca (Chile)
Performance in a Mental Rotation Training Program and its relation to general intelligence and visuo-spatial and numerical skills in 14 and 15-years-old adolescents.
Mental rotation (MR) is, probably, the spatial skill that has received more attention in studies on spatial cognition. In a MR task, participants have to perform mental rotations of spatial stimulus in 2 or 3 dimensions to visualize them in a different orientation. Several types of training have driven to the improvement of spatial skills, but few researches have demonstrated the effect of MR training on the general intelligence or mathematical performance. In addition, several previous researches have observed that reaction time and error rates depends directly on degrees of rotation as well as on the axis in which turns the stimulus. In our study participated 47 adolescents aged 14 and 15 years, and 22 of them (Training Group) realized a Mental Rotation Training Program with two dimensions stimulus rotated in three angles (90º, 180º and 270º) and flipped in two axes (X and Y). Our main goal was to assess the performance of the MR Training Program and its relation with the general intelligence (Raven´s Progressive Matrices) and spatial and numerical abilities (Evaluación Factorial de las Aptitudes Intelectuales, EFAI). In addition, the performance in the training task (accuracy and reaction time) was analyzed as a function of the difficulty of the items (degrees of rotation) and its relation with general intelligence, visuo-spatial and numerical abilities. Results are discussed in order to achieve a better comprehension of the mechanisms and strategies involved in RM tasks and the impact that they could have in the learning of spatial skills, which are essential to the educational development and multiple activities of our daily life.
SEPEX-SEPNECA Conference (Murcia, Spain), 1-4 October 2014
Mª José Contreras1, Mª Rosa Elosúa1, Matías Peinado2, and Pedro Montoro1.
1. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED).
2. France Alzheimer
Tracking study on the suppression effect in memory span tasks in Alzheimer patients
Several studies have found greater difficulties in visuospatial memory in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, compared to healthy elders, even at the early stages of the disease. Although, evaluating this component can be performed through classical visuospatial amplitude tasks, in recent years, a new procedure has been proposed (Beblo et al., 2004; Toepper et al., 2008). This new task uses Corsi’s blocks with the addition of a suppression condition involving an executive component of working memory. In an initial study, the new task was adapted for use with AD and also gender differences in verbal and visuospatial amplitude tasks were analyzed (Experiment 1). In a second study (Experiment 2), the progressive deterioration of AD patients (n=19) in verbal and visuospatial amplitude tasks was analyzed in comparison to a healthy elderly group (n=18) over a period of two years; this tracking study involved four evaluations (one every six months). More specifically, this study analyzed 1) whether the verbal and visuospatial deficits increased over this period; and 2) the effect of executive demands in both types of tasks throughout the two years. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that AD patients had a worse performance in all tasks compared to controls. In addition, effects of content (visuospatial vs verbal), of the suppression condition (with vs without suppression) and of the interaction between both factors were found in AD patients. The results of Experiment 2 showed that, over the two years, AD patients had a lower performance in all tasks in comparison with the healthy elderly group.
SEPEX-SEPNECA Conference (Murcia, Spain), 1-4 October 2014
Patricia Gimeno1, Mª José Contreras2, Mª Rosa Elosúa2, and Antonio Rodán3
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Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.
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Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
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Universidad CEU San Pablo.
Effects of gender on an Intervention Program on visuospatial abilities and their relation to mathematics and working memory in students of 2nd Year of Compulsory Primary Education (CPE).
Different studies conducted in recent years claim that spatial reasoning is the key to success in the so called STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), where a bias in detriment of females has been observed in the access frequency to these disciplines. Various types of training in visuospatial abilities have led to the improvement of these skills (Uttal et al., 2013), but the only evidence so far on the effect of visuospatial training in mathematical performance has been conducted by Cheng and Mix (2014) in children aged 6-8 years. The main objective of the present research was to examine whether any differences between visuospatial abilities between sexes were modified after a visuospatial abilities training program, as well as their relationship with working memory and mathematics, among students in 2nd year of primary education. The results showed that visual-spatial abilities are malleable as a significant improvement in spatial ability was obtained for the experimental group in relation to the control group. Moreover, the initial differences found between sexes increased, in favor of boys relative to girls.
In addition, a significant positive correlation between spatial ability and mathematical competence was found, in the sense that those students with a better ability to perform mental rotations, also obtained better scores in mathematics. The different results obtained in this study may provide support for future research focused on promoting both learning spatial skills (essential for many activities of daily living), and developing one of the most important skills in education, mathematics.
SEPEX-SEPNECA Conference (Murcia, Spain), 1-4 October, 2014
Antonio Rodán1, Mª Rosa Elosúa2, Mª José Contreras2 and Patricia Gimeno3.
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Universidad CEU San Pablo.
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Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
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Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.
Effect of training in visuospatial abilities and their relation to mathematics in 3rd year students of Secondary Education (CSE).
Some studies have shown that repeated practice and training with visuospatial content improves spatial performance (e.g.: Uttal et al., 2013), although some authors have noted that such improvements are ephemeral and are limited when the trained task is very similar to those used for the evaluation of possible outcomes. Some studies have also established a relationship between spatial thinking and mathematics, although there are few studies that have assessed whether general mathematical reasoning can improve from a visuospatial training without an explicitly mathematical content.
The main objective of our study was to examine whether a computerized mental rotation (MR) spatial ability training program produces improvements of this ability in a group of students from 3rd grade of secondary education; the effect of MR training on numeracy was also analyzed. The results of this present study indicated that the MR intervention yielded an improvement of this ability, although there was only a trend to significant differences between the experimental and the control group. In this study, no significant correlation between MR spatial ability and numeracy was found. The results and limitations of the study will be discussed to address future research, given the potential importance of spatial skills in the success of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering y Mathematics) domains.
SEPEX-SEPNECA Conference (Murcia, Spain), 1-4 October, 2014
Pedro Raúl Montoro1, María José Contreras1, María Rosa Elosúa1 and Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos2.
1. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
2. University of Adelaide
Transmodal bodily cognition: interaction between emotional auditory words and the vertical visuospatial axis
The concepts with emotional content have been extensively studied in recent decades. In particular, the relationship between abstract and concrete concepts has become a topic of special interest in the field of bodily cognition, suggesting that the abstract (and affective) concepts possess sensorimotor properties in a similar way as concrete concepts have. For example, evidence of an association between emotional concepts and the vertical spatial axis has been found, so that positive words are associated with the "up" position, while negative words activate the "down" position (e.g. Meier & Robinson, 2004). Most research on the association between emotional words and the vertical axis have used visual words as stimulating material. However, to our knowledge, no previous study has examined the association between affect and vertical position using a transmodal experimental procedure. This paper aims to take a step forward in investigating the nature of this conceptual-physical interaction using a transmodal version of the spatial cueing paradigm. To do this, we checked if hearing emotionally charged words can guide visuospatial attention under a metaphorical relationship that relates positive emotions to the “up” position and negative emotions to the “down” position. The results will be discussed in the context of the bodily cognition hypothesis.
SEPEX-BAPS Meeting 2012, Lieja (Bélgica) 10-11 de Mayo
Mª José Contreras1, Mª Rosa Elosúa, Matías Peinado2, and Pedro Montoro1.
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Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED).
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France Alzheimer
The effect of the suppression' executive demands in visuospatial and verbal span tasks in Alzheimer patients and healthy elderly.
Several studies have observed higher visuospatial memory impairments in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients compared to healthy elderly, even in the early stages of the dementia (e.g. Corkin, 1982; Grossi, Becker, Smith & Trojano, 1993). Thus, the impairment of the spatial component of memory might be a potential symptom of AD. Although a way to assess this component entails using the well known visuospatial span task, recently, a new method has been proposed (Beblo et al., 2004; Toepper et al., 2010). This method made use of the Corsi blocks task including an executive strategy of information suppression. The present study has adapted this new task for application in AD patients. The main aim was examined the visuospatial impairment in AD patients (n=19) compared to healthy elderly (n=18). Specifically, we explored (1) whether spatial and verbal deficits were reliable in AD; and (2) the effect of the executive demands in both spatial and verbal memory. The results showed that AD patients demonstrated an impaired performance compared to controls in all the tasks. In addition, effects of the information modality, the suppression strategy and the interaction between these factors were also observed in AD patients.