Le rôle de la mémoire de travail dans la production écrite de textes

Integration of capacity (Just and Carpenter, 1992) and componentiel (Baddeley, 1986) conceptions of working memory in models of text composition (Hayes, 1996 ; Kellogg, 1996 ; McCutchen, 1996) has allowed studying several facets of the role of working memory in writing acquisition and in expert management of the writing processes. This article presents these two conceptions and examines their respective contribution in the field of writing research from two perspectives: The demands of the writing processes (in terms of processing and transient storage) and the influence of working memory capacity on the control of production. The conclusion underlines the importance of investigating the on-line management of text production, the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad, and to link strategies for allocating the working memory resources with text quality.     

Le développement de la mémoire de travail : perspectives dans le cadre du modèle de partage temporel des ressources

Working memory has a central role in cognitive development and its capacity is among the best predictors of high-level cognition and school achievement. Within the Time-Based Resource Sharing (TBRS) model, three main factors account for the development of working memory capacity. In this paper, we will review the main empirical evidence sustaining the impact of two of these factors on cognitive development. First, the amount of attention available for cognitive functioning might increase during childhood. Thus, for the same activities, older children would be able to process information faster than younger children. Within working memory span tasks, because the level of activation of memory traces decreases during the processing steps, any reduction of the duration of these steps directly diminishes the time during which the traces decay, and consequently increases the time available for reactivation or refreshing before the next processing step. These two effects jointly induce a stronger activation of the memory traces and a better recall of the to-be-maintained items. Second, because the main hypothesis of the TBRS model is that attention switches to refresh memory traces from processing to maintenance during the processing episodes, the efficiency of the refreshing mechanism should have a direct and strong impact on working memory functioning. An increase in the efficiency of this refreshing during childhood means that older children should take a greater advantage from the short pauses left free between each processing step. The level of activation of the memory traces would be then higher for older than for younger children, resulting in the classically observed increase in span. As a consequence, age-related changes in the efficiency of the refreshing could play a central role in working memory development.     

Étude des déterminants personnels du comportement scolaire de l'élève : test d'un modèle structural

This study aims to grasp and understand the role of some personal features and some dynamical mechanisms of the personality in the determination of the pupil's academic behaviour. A general model is developed and tested, on a sample of 336 elementary school pupils, with respect to three principles: causal order, association and non-artificiality. The data analysis is then refined by developing a structural model. The results prove that the dynamical mechanisms of the personality relating to the affective entry characteristics should be considered as dependent and independent variables. They allow to identify the principal personal determinants of pupil rowdyism, reaction toward class, making friends and academic achievement.     

Vers une prise en compte de la contrainte liée à l’effecteur dans la dynamique de coordination graphomotrice

Comparing two independent experiments following the same paradigm, the present article ponders the influence of constraints on graphic activity. A first study realized by Athènes et al. (2004) on the reproduction of simple graphic shapes revealed the presence of five preferential shapes when the effector was not constrained. With the forearm fastened, our results suggest that four only shapes are preferential when reproducing these same shapes. Overall, our findings suggest that the addition of a constraint related to the effector does not necessarily imply a negative effect on the graphic landscape. Were this assumption to be confirmed by full-fledged studies, it would be then possible to reveal new preferential shapes that are not spontaneously reproduced without additional constraints.     

Les marques de cohésion : leur rôle fonctionnel dans l'acquisition de la production écrite de texte

Written text composition is a complex activity improving slowly through acquisition. One of the main difficulty for the novice writer is to translate in the linear textual structure a multidimensional representation (Fayol, 1991). The general issue of this paper concerns the essential role of cohesion devices in the acquisition of this linearization process in writing. Anaphoræ, connectives and punctuation marks are first mentionned, stressing on their common functions in text. Then, stress is put on their acquisition, both as structured systems and as functional tools progressively organizing the written text and ensuring close inter-systems relations.     

Développement de la précision temporo-motrice et cadences spontanées de jeunes enfants

Fifty children (six to ten years old) were asked to tap a flat surface as regularly as possible with their finger at different semi-spontaneous tempi. Their chosen tapping speed was estimated by each sequence's mean inter-tap interval. The range of chosen speeds widens with age. The just tenable difference (JTD) between inter-tap intervals is proportional to their reference, the mean. The motor-timing precision, estimated through the standard-deviation/mean ratio, clearly improves with age. Children are more precise at faster tempi, not around their “normal” tempo as adults. Our simple semi-spontaneous finger-tapping task could be applied to the clinical evaluation of age-dependent explicit and implicit timing components in motor performance.     

L'activité conversationnelle d'un jury de validation d'acquis : analyse interlocutoire de la formation d'un concept potentiel

In this contribution, authors try to give an interlocutory analysis of a particular verbal and work situation: a face to face activity of acquired knowledge validation panel. The analysis is made in order to verify the hypothesis that conversational activity, that realises an evaluative activity, is both the place and the instrument of the construction of a potential concept. Vygotski (1934/1997) calls “potential concept” the meeting between a concrete meaning, developed in action, with a “scientific concept”.     

Implication de la gestuelle dans la transmission d’informations

The present paper reports the results of an experimentation that explores the cognitive dimension of gesture involved in many situations of social communication. The method is based on a protocol structured in four experimental modalities, with video sequences. The results from 82 subjects suggest that the role of this component of nonverbal behavior exceeds the apparent transmission of information. It clarifies the verbal speech of the locutor, and also allows to share his own representations, and to direct those of the interlocutor. This impact is all the more effective as the visual-spatial aptitudes of the later are high.     

布雷松:"现代哲学思考背景中的整体论哲学"

格拉尼埃的整体论哲学是一种深入分析当代核心问题的哲学,一种涵盖历史、思辨和存在的具有三重性的哲学:首先,它的建立使虚无主义哲学东山再起;其次,他思考并诠释了异常难解的问题(本体论、人类学、形而上学、伦理学、艺术、真理等);最后,他提出了一种针对我们生活的管理方法和一些管理原则。整体论哲学主张创建自己的有别于科学的哲