Tatyana V. Akhutina

Relevance. Eye-tracking study of reading is widely used methodology in modern psychology. But there is a lack of such studies in Russian language. Particularly, there are few eye-tracking studies of reading on early stages of acquisition of this skill. 

Objectives. The main aim of our study is to describe process of reading in children 9-10 years old. We compare state of cognitive functions of children and state of their reading skills and try to describe possible strategies for mastering the skill of reading based on indicators of oculomotor activity. 

Methods. 56 third graders participated in the study, mean age – 9.62 years old. The reading skills were assessed using the method “Reading regular and irregular words”. We also record eye-movements of the children during reading the corpus of sentences designed for early schoolchildren. Cognitive functions were assessed by neuropsychological assessment adapted for children of 6–9 years old. 

Results. We separated the sample into two subgroups with relatively low and high state of reading skill and found differences in the state of cognitive functions and in the oculomotor activity of children in these groups. The children with relatively low reading skill often had weaknesses of executive functions, functions of visual-spatial and auditory information processing. They made more fixations and their fixations were longer than children with high state of the reading skill. A qualitative analysis of the reading of two children with dyslexia and two children with selective development of sub-lexical / lexical routes made it possible to describe the features of reading in children with the weakness of the both strategies or one of them.

Conclusion. The results obtained in the study, on the one hand, show a general interrelation between the features of reading mastering and the state of individual cognitive functions of children, and on the other hand, they indicate that there is no rigid determination of the level of reading development by the state of cognitive functions.

The paper presents the analysis of developmental changes in executive functions in early school­children. 117 first­-graders (7.62±0.45 y.o.) 86 third­-graders (9.64±0.4 y.o.) participated in the study. Qualitative neuropsychological assessment and computer­based tests were used to evaluate the development of executive functions. The comparison of results in first and third graters reveals a significant improvement of temporal characteristics and accuracy of performance of the tests. The results may be evidence of the significant development of executive functions in the primary school age. In addition it is shown that the results of neuropsychological assessment and computer methods may be used as reliable predictors of learning disabilities

The paper presents results of the neuropsychological assessment of processes involved in the maintenance of activation (Luria’s Unit I functions) in 64 firstgraders who demonstrated various levels of academic success. On the basis of this assessment, the children were divided into three groups: (i) the children without any deficit in the Unit I functions (CONTROL children), (ii) those predominantly showing slowness/fatigue (SLOW children), and (iii) those who can be considered as predominantly hyperactive-impulsive (HYPERACTIVE children). It is shown that, relative to controls, both SLOW and HYPERACTIVE children show reduced academic scores and the decrease of most indices that characterize functions of the Units II and III. The weaknesses of executive and visual-spatial functions are predominantly observed in HYPERACTIVE children, whereas SLOW children usually show some deficit in processing of kinesthetic (proprioceptive) and audio-verbal information. Children with functional weakness of the Unit I functions show an overall reduction in performance and its speed in the computerized versions of the “DOTS” and “SCHULTE—GORBOV tables” tests. In HYPERACTIVE children, deficits are observed in the most difficult tasks (those probing mostly into planning and control functions), and their performance is the most unstable. In SLOW children, the performance rate is noticeably decreased for the moderate-to-difficult tasks. Overall, the data reported contribute to the understanding of the diversity of Unit I functions deficits and their relation to the learning difficulties experienced by children in the primary school.

The paper presents results of the neuropsychological assessment of processes involved in the maintenance of activation (Luria’s Unit I functions) in 64 firstgraders who demonstrated various levels of academic success. On the basis of this assessment, the children were divided into three groups: (i) the children without any deficit in the Unit I functions (CONTROL children), (ii) those predominantly showing slowness/fatigue (SLOW children), and (iii) those who can be considered as predominantly hyperactive-impulsive (HYPERACTIVE children). It is shown that, relative to controls, both SLOW and HYPERACTIVE children show reduced academic scores and the decrease of most indices that characterize functions of the Units II and III. The weakness of executive and visuo-spatial functions are predominantly observed in HYPERACTIVE children, whereas SLOW children usually show some deficit in processing of kinesthetic (proprioceptive) and audio-verbal information. Children with functional weakness of the Unit I functions show an overall reduction in performance and its speed in the computerized versions of the “DOTS” and “SCHULTE—GORBOV tables” tests. In HYPERACTIVE children, deficits are observed in the most difficult tasks (those probing mostly into planning and control functions), and their performance is the most unstable. In SLOW children, the performance rate is noticeably decreased for the moderate-to-difficult tasks. Overall, the data reported contribute to the understanding of the diversity of Unit I functions deficits and their relation to the learning difficulties experienced by children in the primary school.

The article presents the results of a longitudinal population-based neuropsychological study of the development of higher mental functions (HMF) in primary school children from Grades 1 through 3 of Moscow secondary school (n=84). The dynamics of HMF components in the sample in general and in groups of children with different (measured in the 1st grade) level of HMF (high, medium, low) was followed with the help of seven indexes that reflect the status of the individual components of HMF, such as executive functions (voluntary regulation of activity), serial organization of movements and actions, processing of kinesthetic, auditory, visual and visual-spatial information, regulation of activation. The study showed a positive dynamics in the overall state of structural-functional components of HMF in the examinees. Groups of children with different baseline levels of HMF steadily kept the differences in the degree of development of HMF components in each evaluation, despite the fact that the highest dynamics of HMF components was found in children with initially low, and the lowest — in children with initially high levels of HMF components. Among the components the lowest dynamics was found in the development of voluntary regulation, that is, the functions of programming, regulation and control of activity. No significant dynamics of these functions from the first to the third grade in children with high baseline functioning may be related to the fall of their learning motivation as their learning proceeds in the Zone of actual and not proximal development.

This article aims to acquaint the wide community of general and special education teachers, psychologists, speech and language therapists, including those who work in integrative and inclusive environments, with the outlines of child neuropsychology and neuropsychological approach to assessment, prevention, and remediation of learning disabilities. In the last 20 years the field of psychological theory and practice named school neuropsychology which bases itself upon Vygotsky’s and Luria’s ideas has been developing in Russia. It is actively penetrating the psychological and educational practices involving effective research based methods. Unfortunately, many professionals working in educational sphere and even school psychologists are not aware of the goals and methods of this approach to overcoming learning disabilities. This article aims to contribute in closing this gap. 

Actual problem of a modern neuropsychology is elaboration of batteries of tests combining advantages of qualitative and quantitative approaches. In this article we describe an important step of quantitative processing of neuropsychological data in “Method of neuropsychological assessment of children of 6—9 years” the formation of the generalized indices. The described procedure of the statistical analysis of neuropsychological results appreciably reproduces the logic of the expert who is carrying out the qualitative syndrome analysis of HMF-dysfunction. The formation of indices is considered on an example of neuropsychological assessment of 98 elementary school students with learning disabilities and 33 students with autistic disorders. 

The article discusses development of writing in three subgroups of schoolchildren with different profiles of neurocognitive development, distinguished on the basis of neuropsychological characteristics. Precise registration of hand movements together with neuropsychological assessment allowed establishing the dependence of characteristics of writing and their dynamics on the strengths and weaknesses of components forming the functional system of writing. It may be concluded that each subgroup of schoolchildren demonstrates a specific pattern of writing quality, timing and errors, and that this pattern emerges due to the primary weak component of a child’s functional system of writing as well as to compensatory reorganizations.

Relevance. In the study, we discuss the neuropsychological measures and relationship of two important groups of cognitive functions, namely, executive functions and functions of activation regulation. The study of the structure of these functions and the possibility of assessing their state in children of preschool and primary school age by methods of neuropsychological diagnostics and computerized testing are important from two points of view. First, it is an important issue in neuropsychological practice. Second, it is one of the ways to better understand cognitive development at this age.

Objectives. Development and estimation of factor models that establish the relationship between the results of neuropsychological diagnostics and various groups of cognitive functions associated with executive functions and regulation of activation. Methods. 434 children from 6 to 9 years old (from senior preschoolers to third graders) participated in the study. All children underwent neuropsychological examination adapted for children of 6–9 years, and they also performed tests from a computerized neuropsychological examination battery for children of 6–9 years. The results were used to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis.

Results and conclusions. We proposed models that include three factors. The first factor corresponds to executive functions and two others relate to the regulation of activation. According to our model, the functions of activation can be divided into two factors: a factor of hyperactivity/impulsivity and a factor of fatigue/sluggishness. Model fit indices showed good agreement with empirical data. The combined use of indicators of both traditional and computer neuropsychological examination makes the estimations of the model better. Thus, in the study we revealed parameters of the performance on the neuropsychological tests that can be used as indicators of the state of executive functions and functions of activation regulation. The weakness in one of the components of activity regulation can lead to specific patterns of behavior which are manifested in the neuropsychological examination. A more serious and extensive deficit of one of the functions can lead to the appearance either of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or of sluggish cognitive tempo.

The article discusses the question of application of the neuropsychological method in psychogenetic research. It is suggested to use neuropsychological indexes as endophenotype — an intermediate part between genotype and phenotype. Results of experimental study of mono- and dizygotic 43—62 year old twins are reported. Consideration of programming and control index (executive functions index) as an endophenotype has demonstrated that neuropsychological indexes may become a basis for the qualitative analysis of the intelligence structure.