Développement de la connaissance des lettres capitales. Étude transversale chez les enfants français de trois à six ans

The present study examined the knowledge of uppercase letters in 160 children aged from three to six. Three tasks were administrated: letter saying, letter naming, letter recognition. Children's responses were analyzed according to several variables: school level, gender, task, letter type, letter frequency, etc. Letter knowledge improved from three to six years, but with huge differences among children, namely the superiority of girls over boys. Letter by letter analyses showed that scores were highly consistent between tasks and school levels. They also revealed that letter knowledge was affected by letter type, letter frequency, alphabetic rank and the presence of letters in the child's first name. The findings are discussed for their contribution to the understanding of letter learning.     

Effet d’entraînements bimodaux à la connaissance des lettres. Étude transversale chez des enfants de trois et cinq ans

The aim was to test the effect of two-mode trainings on letter knowledge, pseudowords spelling and reading with 3-year- and 5-year-old children. A classical pretest/training/post-design was used. Trainings differed on the letter sensory exploration (auditory/visual [V], auditory/ haptic [H] and auditory/graphomotor [G]). Results indicated that performance on letter-sound knowledge and spelling was globally better with H training with 3-year-old. Five-year-old children improved in all tasks after all trainings. In reading, G group obtained better performance. These results suggest that tactilo-kinesthesic informations in H and G forms contribute to the elaboration of visual and phonological representations of the letter.     

Modélisation pour un environnement multimédia de l'apprentissage individualisé de la lecture

The aim of our research project is to study what contribution the new technologies can bring to teaching and learning. So, we have chosen a pluridiciplinary approach, combining the exploration of computer potentialities with the integration of research studies about the learning application. The application is a tutor module of AMICAL project (Architecture Multi-agent Interactive Compagnon pour l'Apprentissage de la Lecture). The issue is to determine and to explain the knowledge at work in a teaching process. To begin with, we shall explain the different decision-making processes, which characterize the teaching act. In a second part, we shall describe the processes of knowledge determination and modelling.     

Connaissance du nom et du son des lettres, habiletés métaphonémiques et capacités de décodage en grande section de maternelle

This study examined the specific implication of letter-name knowledge in reading acquisition on 5-year-old kindergarten children. Several studies underlined the importance of both phonological and orthographic skills (letters and grapho-phonological associations’ knowledge developed during reading acquisition). So, we focused on the link between those different early abilities and on their links with reading acquisition during school year. Thus, at the beginning and at the end of the year, we proposed to 40 children metaphonemic tasks (phoneme identification in initial and final position in the words), letter-sound and letter-name knowledge tasks (naming and identification) and a pseudo-words decoding task. In addition, to access letter-name knowledge, two types of measurements were proposed: an accuracy measure and a speed one. Mean number of correct responses and reaction times were collected by children and analysed too. Results show that letter-name knowledge could play a part in metaphonemic abilities development and in letter-sound associations’ discovery and acquisition, at the beginning of the year. Thanks to those skills improvement, letter-name knowledge could have an indirect impact on later children's decoding skills. Furthermore, the direct link, already observed at the beginning of the year, between letter-name knowledge and decoding skills still exists in April. At last, analyses on letter-name knowledge access time show that the more children name an important number of letters, the more they do it quickly. These results could mean that a certain level of letter-name knowledge have to be reach before children could use this knowledge automatically. All together, results confirm the importance of good letter-name knowledge in the first stages of reading acquisition. We also suggest taking into account some clues of letter-name knowledge's automatic use to better understand reading acquisition processes.     

Quel type d'approche scientifique pour la description de la personnalité ?

The purpose of the introduction to the special issue “scientific approaches of personality: challenges and controversies” is to present three different approaches to the scientific study of personality and personality judgment: the factorial approach, psychosocial approach, personality assessment at the level of the individual. The theoretical foundations of each field are exposed in the first part of the introduction. In the second part, we present the articles that compose this special issue.     

Implication des fonctions exécutives dans le décodage en lecture : étude comparative entre normolecteurs et faibles lecteurs de CE2

The implication of executive functions in reading was studied. Normo and poor third grade readers were compared in an illusory conjunction task using the selection of a letter features embedded in a grapheme or risen to the syllable boundary. Executive task of updating or shifting were then added to this task. According to decoding progress from graphemes to syllables we suppose that the cost of executive processing will be more important for poor readers. Results showed that addition of an executive control task to a selection task, led to an increase in response times for poor readers whatever the presentation (grapheme, syllable).     

人工语法范式下的无意识知识探析

人工语法范式不仅是内隐学习领域广泛运用的范式,同时也是研究无意识知识的主要方法。文章通过对人工语法范式组成材料中的刺激频率、组块等方面进行深入探讨,不仅使人们对无意识知识有了更全面的认识,而且也有利于对内隐学习获得规则知识的假设提出更确定的回答;并通过对无意识知识的神经机制研究以及考察镜射规则学习过程的脑神经激活状况,获得了规则学习对应更为准确的脑神经活动,推动了人工语法范式下无意识知识的深入研究。     

L'élaboration du contenu du texte : de la mémoire à long terme à l'environnement de la tâche

This paper aims at analysing different theories about text content elaboration. In the literature, the conceptual processing is considered through its relationships with long-term memory and the retrieving process during planning. It has been shown that knowledge availability and organisation influenced the writing progress. The task environment, which contains both the text that is currently written and documentary sources, equally plays an important role during text content elaboration. In this framework, the question concerning the double influence of knowledge from long-term memory and information from environment on the dynamics of writing processing is raised. The working memory, the activation theories and the analysis of the writer's eye movements are studied to answer this crucial question.     

Habiletés phonologiques chez des enfants dysphasiques de GS et CP : étude comparative avec des enfants au développement langagier normal

The aim of this study was to investigate the deficit in phonological skills of pre-reader and beginning reader children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). We compared their performances in different metaphonological tasks (a common unit detection task (syllable vs phoneme) and a phoneme deletion task) with those of children with Normal Language Development (NLD) of the same school level. Phoneme detection task is very difficult for all children in kindergarten. The performances of SLI children are poorer than those of NLD children for syllables and phonemes in first grade. The forced choice phoneme deletion tasks point out a specific difficulty for children with SLI to focus on the phonological properties of words when their attention must shift from content to form.     

Évolution des idées en psychologie de la santé dans le monde anglo-saxon. De la psychologie de la santé (health psychology) à la psychologie critique de la santé (critical health psychology)

The authors adopt a historical perspective and exhibit the debates held within Health Psychology in the Anglo-Saxon universe since the 1980s. They show how the development of the North-American mainstream approach has aroused several objections. These objections were firstly methodological (qualitative methods) then, theoretical and epistemological. This evolution has allowed the creation of two main approaches: Qualitative Health Psychology and Critical Health Psychology. While this course is not yet well-known in France, it illustrates, however, the present developments and the richness of the discussion within Anglo-Saxon Psychology. The conclusion shows that these debates should be known and accepted if we intend to improve our models in Psychology, so that they take into account the situated nature of the human being, its dynamics, its temporality as well and its complexity. Hence, Health Psychology perspectives as a whole will gain in pertinence in the fields of research and intervention.     

L'impact des schémas non analogiques conceptuels dans la compréhension de textes expositifs : stratégies visuelles selon l'expertise

The main objectives of this study are: 1) to determine the contribution of a conceptual not-analogical schema in an expositive text's comprehension and memorizing according to the reader's previous knowledge level in the field approached in the text; 2) to identify the differentiated reading strategies according to the reader's previous knowledge level in the field when it is about understanding expositive schematized texts via ocular movements recording on one hand and the score given on the comprehension questions on the other hand. The results highlight a reading strategy with more Text/Schema transitions accompanied by longer fixations on the textual zone for the items for which the subjects are novice in the field than for those whose contents relate to their expertise field.     

Le renversement de préférence… renversé !

Preference reversal (PR) occurs when pairs of lottery gambles are evaluated under two different conditions: to choose the gamble preferred to play and assign minimum selling price to each gamble. The preference order is then reversed from one condition to another: while it receives the lowest selling price, the gamble less risked is preferred in condition of play. Many times replicated, this result is considered as a cognitive bias. Recent research suggests that it could be related only to the procedure used to present the gambles (i.e., the evaluation mode): either by pair (joint evaluation or JE) in condition of play, or one by one (separate evaluation or SE) in the pricing task. Then, by reversing the evaluation mode in each condition, PR should be reversed, as it is shown in this study: although the phenomenon still occurs when subjects evaluate gambles in the classical paradigm, we observe an inversion of PR when they have, on the one hand, to play in SE, and on the other hand, to sell in JE. Furthermore, an analysis not often used in this literature provides new elements, which can attest to the cognitive mechanisms underlying the phenomenon: by recording the online information (self-paced display time paradigm) we show the effect of an anchoring and adjustment process when riskiest gambles are preferred.     

Apprendre à résoudre des problèmes en favorisant la construction d’une représentation alternative chez des élèves scolarisés en éducation prioritaire

In arithmetic problems solving, the representation of the problem spontaneously induced by the content of the statement is not always compatible with the solving strategy. This study evaluates a learning approach designed to lead pupils to build an alternative representation to the one spontaneously induced. In this paper, we evaluate the efficiency of this learning approach with children with learning difficulties enrolled in a priority education network. This learning by semantic recoding is a process based on an analogy between the problems and a comparison of strategies. The results show that after learning, the pupils built alternative representations.     

La distribution du voisinage influence l'amorçage orthographique non masqué des mots écrits

The aim of the present research is to study whether orthographic neighbourhood distribution influences unmasked orthographic priming. Two word conditions were compared in the lexical decision task. All word targets had two higher frequency neighbours that were either spread across two letter positions (SINGE/linge-songe) or concentrated on a single letter position (RUCHE/riche-roche). Results showed an inhibitory effect of unmasked orthographic priming. Furthermore, this priming effect was influenced by the target neighbourhood distribution. Priming was only found when the word targets had two neighbours that were spread across two letter positions. These data are discussed within an interactive activation framework in terms of prime activation (Versace and Nevers, 2003).     

Contribution de la motricité graphique à la reconnaissance visuelle des lettres

The ability to recognize single letters, an important step in reading, is traditionally assumed to depend only on visual processes. However, as many of the objects surrounding us, letters are learnt through a matching between a visual configuration and movements. We review arguments suggesting that the characteristics of writing movements impact visual recognition of letters, at both a behavioral and neural levels. This impact might be especially strong when the orientation of letters has to be processed.     

Effets de l’âge et de la capacité de mémoire de travail sur l’exécution d’instructions de complexité variable chez des adultes jeunes et âgés

Technical devices are part of elderly people's daily life. Meanwhile, research has not yet systematically explored how old people understand procedural instructions accompanying these devices. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate how age and memory span affect how people follow procedural instructions. To do so, the Reading Span Test of Daneman & Carpenter (1980) and an adaptation of the Kaplan & White's (1980) following directions game were administrated to young and older adults. The Reading Span Test was administrated in order to determine the participants’ memory span size. Then, participants had to follow procedural instructions with a growing complexity displayed on a computer screen. Results show that participants’ age and instructions complexity affect how the instructions are performed. Old adults encounter more difficulty performing the task than young adults. Furthermore, whatever the age, as the complexity of instructions increases, low-span participants have more difficulty performing instructions than high-span participants do.     

Individual differences in preschool children's knowledge of superordinate categories

The present study assesses intensional knowledge of superordinate categories in preschool children. This assessment is part of a larger programmatic research effort aimed at the development of a cognitive preschool screening test to detect learning problems prior to their manifestation in school failure. Necessary prerequisites for including intensional superordinate category knowledge as a potential component of this screening test are addressed: (a) Are there substantial variations in this knowledge across preschool children? (b) Can the knowledge be measured reliably using game-like picture tasks? (c) Do individual differences in this knowledge relate to the child's current level of intellectual functioning? An underlying assumption for the development of this screening test is that assessing gradually emerging abstract knowledge that develops through active, ongoing processing is more likely to predict learning problems than assessing knowledge that develops through rote associative learning. Consistent with this approach was the prediction that one component of intension, knowledge of differences, would be a better predictor of current functioning than knowledge of similarities. The data support this contention. Although both knowledge of similarities and differences was stable within an individual, variable among individuals and highly correlated with each other, only knowledge of differences related to the child's concurrent level of intellectual functioning.     

Analyse du langage et analyse des discours : quelques applications en psychologie

Discourse analysis is still underdeveloped in Psychology. However, it offers both a precise theoretical framework and various methods of analysis, which make it possible to deal with issues at the heart of psychology and the missions of the practicing psychologists. All discourse is the result of a join construction; it integrates cross-perceptions as well as inter-individual and inter-group relational dynamics. There is no border between the individual who produced the discourse, and the individual who receives it. One is in the other and the other is in one. This conception is particularly relevant when it comes to analyzing what takes place at the heart of social relations, whatever the field of intervention: health, training, work and even more broadly the political and societal debate. This special issue does not aim to be exhaustive but presents different possible applications of discourse analysis, in order to provide the reader, reading grids and tools, which inform practice and nourish theory.     

La métamémoire : analyse de sa mesure par questionnaire. Étude exploratoire

This research aims at allowing an elaboration of a metamemory questionnaire. A study of metamemory and metacognition modelisations first allowed identifying four dimensions (the stereotypes about memory aging, the subject’s beliefs about one’s abilities, his knowledge about strategies and strategy use). A content analysis of available questionnaires evidenced an incomplete operationalisation of these dimensions, and allowed us to identify some modalities for each of them. In order to check that modalities are clearly defined, we proceeded to a comparison between different subjects with one of these questionnaires. The agreement rates are satisfying, except for two modalities, but the results constrain us to complete this study with a similar one using another questionnaire.     

Apprendre à tracer les lettres : une revue critique

This article surveys studies on handwriting acquisition in young children, and the method for handwriting teaching. After a brief presentation of some handwriting model in adults, we present information about the onset of handwriting and more precisely the differentiation between writing and drawing. We describe how handwriting evolves in children concerning static and dynamical aspects. Finally tools for handwriting teaching are presented and discussed.