Reading and related skills in Grades 6, 7, 8 and 9: French normative data from EVALEC

IntroductionTo appropriately assess reading difficulties, tests designed according to an appropriate theoretical framework and based on normative data are required.ObjectiveWe used EVALEC (Sprenger-Charolles, Colé, Béchennec, & Kipffer-Piquard, 2005) to collect data on the word-level reading skills and reading-related skills (phonemic awareness, phonological short-term memory, and rapid naming) of middle school children (Grades 6 to 9, about 80 in each grade).MethodIn the tests focused on word-level reading skills, the effects of regularity (regular vs. irregular words), lexicality, and length (short vs. long irregular words and pseudowords) were examined. Accuracy and processing times were recorded for all tests.ResultsThe effects of both regularity and lexicality were significant, whatever the measure and independently of grade. Both accuracy and speed were lower for longer pseudowords, whereas length did not have a significant effect on irregular word latencies and, surprisingly, long irregular words were read more accurately than short ones. Reading level as assessed by a standardized test (Lefavrais, 2005) was not predicted by phonological short-term memory; rapid naming (color names) and phonemic awareness were both predictors but, in both cases, only response times predicted reading level.ConclusionThese results, and particularly those from the reading tasks, are discussed in relation to models of written-word recognition developed to account for the reading of multisyllabic items (Perry, Ziegler, & Zorzi, 2010) in orthographies shallower than English (Perry, Ziegler, & Zorzi, 2014).     

A study of student assessment of the lexical and emotional characteristics of cancer-related words

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to clarify students’ knowledge and emotional feelings about words used in the announcement of cancer diagnoses.MethodA total of 465 students registered in a higher education institution rated familiarity, valence and arousal, and responded to questions about the definition and the contextual use of 20 cancer-related target words.ResultsThe words were estimated as being unfamiliar and negative, and were poorly defined by the majority of students. Many of these indicators varied according to whether the students reported having a relative diagnosed with cancer, and to their level of vocabulary.DiscussionThis study provides explanatory leads that should help to shed light on the nature of the difficulties students have in understanding medical messages.     

Cross-cultural validation of a French version of the Emotional Processing Scale (EPS-25)

IntroductionThe Emotional Processing Scale (EPS) is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 25 items designed to identify emotional processing styles and impairments. The aim was to develop a French version of the scale and to test its preliminary validity and reliability in French community and clinical samples.MethodAfter translation and back-translation, a validation study was conducted with 1176 adults [215 from a community sample, 251 undergraduate psychology students, 686 people with a range of physical health conditions (HIV, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, leukaemia) and 24 people with bipolar disorder hospitalised for depression].ResultsThe internal reliability of the French EPS was good, with a Cronbach's alpha of .91. The five-factor structure of the original English version of the scale was closely reproduced.ConclusionsThe French EPS demonstrated good reliability and validity. Correlations with other conceptually similar scales (e.g., TAS-20, CERQ, STAXI) were as predicted. EPS scores distinguished between groups (clinical samples vs. a community sample) that would be expected to differ.     

L’évaluation cognitive de la lecture au collège : synthèse des principaux outils de dépistage et de diagnostic des troubles spécifiques de la lecture et cognitifs associés

As reported by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA, 2012), almost 20% of French teenagers show difficulties in reading (OCDE, 2014). What are the French language tools the practitioner or educationalist (teacher, school doctor, psychologist, and speech-language pathologist) use to assess specific reading disorders for middle school students? The tools assessing reading comprehension skills, word-level reading skills and reading-related skills are presented by distinguishing the tools developed for screening of reading difficulties (the purpose of which is to detect early disease or risk factors for disease in large numbers of apparently healthy individuals) than them developed for diagnosing of reading difficulties (the purpose of which is to establish the presence [or absence] of disease as a basis for treatment decisions in symptomatic or screen positive individuals). This synthesis allows to identify their interests and limits, and to consider new tools respecting five essential criteria: (1) the tool structure must be based on recent theoretical models specific at the middle school, (2) the tool must assess reading comprehension skills (with control of listening comprehension skills) and the mastery of two word-level reading procedures (lexical and sublexical), (3) the tool must measure a set of reading-related skills such as phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, rapid serial naming and morphological awareness, (4) the experimental material (vocabulary control) and the standardization must be recent or updated and (5) the speed must be measured accurately.     

The Effects of Text Difficulty on Second Graders' Fluency Development

In this study, two groups of second graders participated in Fluency-Oriented Reading Instruction (FORI) but their repeated reading experiences used different kinds of texts. One group—the Literature group—read texts from the district's literature-based, basal reading program. The second group—the Content group—read from a set of science and social studies texts that were written to have few rare, multisyllabic, single-appearing words. Control-group students read from the district's literature-based program. Both intervention groups made greater gains in reading rate than Control group students and Content students made greater gains in reading rate than Literature students. Content and Literature groups outperformed Control students on the comprehension measure but did not perform significantly differently from one another. The gains made by the Content classrooms were made in approximately half the amount of time allocated to reading instruction as by Literature classrooms.     

Lexical orthographic knowledge acquisition in adults: The whole-word visual processing impact

IntroductionOne of the most persistent difficulties in French written language acquisition is lexical orthographic memorization. Both theoretical models and behavioral studies have suggested that simultaneous visual processing of all the letters of a word could be important for the acquisition of its orthographic form.Main goalTwo experiments are conducted to test this whole-word visual processing hypothesis.MethodThe paradigm used in both experiments is a self-teaching paradigm in which adult participants had to read orthographically complex bisyllabic pseudowords in isolation. In one reading condition, all the letters of the item are available at once, in the other the first and second syllables are seen successively. After reading, participants had to spell under dictation and to recognize the written items.ResultsGlobally, the results showed that participants better recall the orthographic form of a word after having read it in the whole-word reading condition. The result of the recognition task, in the second experiment, was in line with the result of the spelling under dictation task.ConclusionThese results, although they should be interpreted with caution, are in line with the whole-word visual processing hypothesis. Applied consequences for orthographic learning and teaching, as for remediation of specific orthographic disabilities, are discussed.     

Changing behaviors: Using norms to promote physical activity for type 2 diabetes patients

IntroductionGiven that diabetes is a major public heath issue around the world, it is vital that we find effective means to change behaviors, especially levels of physical activity among type 2 diabetes patients.ObjectiveThis study aims to provide proof of the effectiveness of programs promoting physical activity, based on cognitive dissonance and normative focus theories which are designed to produce behavioral changes in persons with type 2 diabetes.MethodNinety-six type 2 diabetes patients were assigned to one of three programs: a traditional information program, a norm-based program, and a dissonance-based program. The participants filled out a short French version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) one week before and one week after the program.ResultsThe results showed that the participants in the norm-based program made progress compared to those in the traditional information program. No significant difference was observed between the traditional information program and dissonance-based program.ConclusionsThese findings are consistent with both the focus normative theory and previous studies showing that recalling the norm increases compliance. The procedure to be used in diabetes prevention programs should focus on the normative dimensions of the desired behaviors in order to improve patients’ quality of life.     

Transfert de la conscience morphologique de l’arabe langue première au français langue seconde au cours des trois premières années d’apprentissage

There is a great deal of evidence to support the role of morphological awareness in reading development. However, towards second language acquisition, transfer of morphological awareness from first to second language (L1 to L2) is still discussed. The underlying question concerns the extent to which morphological awareness is a specific or universal process, and its dependence of linguistic features. The aim of this study is to examine cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness from Arabic L1 to French L2 (morphological awareness and word reading) at different level of learning French L2 (F_L2). 106 Tunisian children, whose first language is Arabic, in 1st (n = 29; mean age; 8; 10 years), 2nd (n = 33; mean age; 9; 9 years) or 3rd year (n = 44; mean age; 10; 10 years) of learning F_L2 participated to this study. Their morphological awareness (inflectional or derivational oddity detection tasks) and their performance in word reading (one minute test) were assessed in standard Arabic and French, as well as their vocabulary knowledge in French. A series of fixed-order hierarchical regression analysis was performed on derivational awareness performances, inflectional awareness performances and word reading performances in F_L2, controlling for effects of other important variables (e.g. French vocabulary, French morphological awareness with word reading scores as outcome variable and French inflectional or derivational awareness with French inflectional or derivational awareness scores as outcome variable respectively, Arabic word reading, etc.). Results show significant contributions of L1 morpho-derivational awareness on F_L2 morpho-derivational awareness in 2nd year (12%), and of L1 morphological awareness on reading words F_L2 in 3^rd year (5%). These results confirm the cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness, particularly derivational, from L1 to L2 among alphabetic — but orthographically and morphologically distances — languages. They also suggest that such a transfer could be relatively limited. It could appear during learning process after achieving a threshold in F_L2 and before specific L2 skills take place. Thus, beyond the morphological opacity of Arabic (nonlinear morphology) and linguistic distance between Arabic and French, the morphological transfer could appear on rich and important morphological dimension in L1 and suggest dealing with the nature of cross-linguistic abilities in depth.     

Is nevtral NEUTRAL? Visual similarity effects in the early phases of written-word recognition

For simplicity, contemporary models of written-word recognition and reading have unspecified feature/letter levels—they predict that the visually similar substituted-letter nonword PEQPLE is as effective at activating the word PEOPLE as the visually dissimilar substituted-letter nonword PEYPLE. Previous empirical evidence on the effects of visual similarly across letters during written-word recognition is scarce and nonconclusive. To examine whether visual similarity across letters plays a role early in word processing, we conducted two masked priming lexical decision experiments (stimulus-onset asynchrony = 50 ms). The substituted-letter primes were visually very similar to the target letters (u/v in Experiment 1 and i/j in Experiment 2; e.g., nevtral–NEUTRAL). For comparison purposes, we included an identity prime condition (neutral–NEUTRAL) and a dissimilar-letter prime condition (neztral-NEUTRAL). Results showed that the similar-letter prime condition produced faster word identification times than the dissimilar-letter prime condition. We discuss how models of written-word recognition should be amended to capture visual similarity effects across letters.     

Vers une nouvelle appréhension des mathématiques par traitement EMDR : actualités et perspectives

ObjectiveEMDR for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing developed since 1989 by F. Shapiro has demonstrated its effectiveness in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In Science of Education, no study has been previously developed in the application of EMDR protocols. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the relevance and effectiveness of EMDR in supporting cognitive and emotional remediation of students in Master 1, with respect to mathematics, preparing Schools Teacher contest. The first encounters with the students revealed, through their discourse, an aversion to mathematics linked to one or more particularly painful experiences in a learning situation. Mathematics may cause anguish, sometimes tinged beliefs such as “I’ll never be able to… I am very bad at math”. This represents even an insurmountable obstacle in the professional life of some.MethodsNearly 170 students in Master 1 “Professor of the Schools” registered on the ESPE (College of the Teaching profession and Education) were asked about their relation to mathematics, both in their emotions as their self-efficacy. Among those who suggested a traumatic memory in a learning situation in mathematics, forty were selected and divided into two groups. The control group received two hours of information about relaxation techniques that could be used before mathematics. The other group benefited of the EMDR treatment according to the standard protocol in eight phases.ResultsThe results showed that students who received EMDR treatment experienced after treatment and one month later, a significant decline in their negative emotions with mathematics and an increase in the strength of their self-efficacy, unlike the control group.DiscussionEMDR demonstrates its effectiveness in reprocessing beliefs and emotions of students with respect to mathematics and opens ways of research in Educational Sciences. So, it will be necessary, from the principle of alternated bilateral stimulation, to develop specific protocols for the struggling students, to measure the effects in the long term and develop them in a group situation.     

Improving parent–child interactions through interactive reading workshops

IntroductionMany authors agree on the importance of training parents in early literacy strategies.ObjectiveThis study analyses the effects of an intervention to improve parent–child interactions during reading sessions, using interactive reading techniques.MethodThe design is exploratory and includes a treatment group (n = 22), which benefited from four interactive reading workshops, and a control group (n = 18), which did not benefit from specific training. Both groups read the same books, three times a week, for 10 weeks. The children come from middle socioeconomic backgrounds and attend preschool or kindergarten (grades 1–3).ResultsThe analyses were conducted on the basis of pre- and post-intervention video observations, coded using the Adult–Child Interactive Reading Inventory (ACIRI). Results from an ANCOVA show that parental behavior, and in turn child behavior, improves in post-intervention: parents improve their children's attention to the text and implement literacy strategies, while the children become more involved in the interactions.ConclusionInteractive reading workshops for parents improve the quantity and quality of parent–child interactions when reading books in a natural and playful context.     

French adaptation of the Attentional Control Scale: Confirmatory factor analyses and relationship with trait anxiety and efficiency of orienting,alerting, and executive control attentional networks

BackgroundThe Attentional Control Scale (ACS) is a self-report questionnaire that measures individual differences in attentional control.ObjectiveThis study compared four models of the French version of the ACS and examined its links to trait anxiety and three attentional networks (orienting, alerting, and executive control) measured with the Attention Network Test (ANT).ResultsConfirmatory analyses conducted with a sample of 284 university students supported a two-factor (focusing and shifting) model. For 59 participants who completed the ANT, we found a positive correlation between focusing and the executive control network, while shifting was negatively correlated with alerting and orienting. Trait anxiety was negatively correlated with focusing and the alerting and executive control networks.ConclusionResults are discussed with a view to improving the assessment of attentional control, a key executive dimension for emotion regulation and attentional disengagement in anxiety.     

Measuring goal involvement in specific achievement situations: Development and validation of a 6-goal questionnaire

IntroductionCurrently, there is a growing interest regarding the dynamics of achievement goals and its consequences on motivational patterns, which urges researchers to focus more and more on states of goal involvement.ObjectiveBased on Elliot, Murayama, and Pekrun's (2011) 6-goal framework, this research aimed to develop and validate a state-like form French Achievement Goal Involvement Questionnaire (FAGIQ-6).MethodFirst, a 40-item preliminary version was created. Its clarity was assessed among 152 French undergraduate students. Then, its factorial structure was tested using confirmatory factor analyses on data collected among 439 French junior high school students. Finally, regression analyses on data collected among 317 other junior high school students were used to test how the instrument relates to constructs known to be related to the different achievement goals.ResultsThe structure of the FAGIQ-6 included 18 items that were deemed clear and that were organized into six factors (task-approach, self-approach, other-approach, task-avoidance, self-avoidance, and other-avoidance). Regression analyses showed that: Perceived competence positively predicted all approach goals and task-avoidance; an entity theory of ability positively predicted other-referenced goals; an incremental theory of ability positively predicted all task and self goals; task-approach and self-approach positively predicted intrinsic motivation and task absorption; approach goals and task-avoidance positively predicted intrinsic motivation; and other-avoidance positively predicted anxiety.ConclusionThe FAGIQ-6 can reliably measure goal involvement in specific achievement situations and thus enables new avenues of research on the dynamics of achievement goals.     

Validation and study of psychometric properties of a French version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS-FR)

IntroductionThe Highly Sensitive Person Scale based on the sensory-processing sensitivity is a self-assessment questionnaire consisting of 27 items. The scale is designed in order to identify individuals with high sensitivity.ObjectiveThe objective was to develop a French version of the scale. We tested its internal consistency and test-retest reliability on a French population sample. Another aim of this study was also to question the multidimensionality of the scale, for which several different models are suggested within the literature.MethodAfter translation and back-translation, a validation study was conducted on 814 adults. They were invited to complete an online questionnaire during the lockdown implemented due to COVID 19, between March 31st and May 11th (2020).ResultsThe internal reliability of the French version of HSPS was very good, with a Cronbach's alpha of .90, as was that of the factors. Correlations between factors were significant (p < .001). The intra-class correlation (ICC) for test-retest was .889 (0.874–0.903; 95% confidence interval). Factor analyses suggested a 4-factors structure, mixing the models found in the literature.ConclusionsThis study focused on a French adaptation of the HSPS scale. The results showed good psychometric qualities and stayed true to the original HSPS scale. The scale could be useful both to practitioners in their clinical practice and to researchers in fundamental research.     

Comparison of four short forms of the French adaptation of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV)

IntroductionThe Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults - 4^th Edition (WAIS-IV) is widely used in France and French-speaking countries for clinical assessment and research. This scale has excellent metric qualities; there is ample evidence of the validity and reliability of its scores. However, it takes 60 to 90 min to complete the full test. That can be problematic in research where time is limited and when examining very disturbed patients. In such cases, a short form of the WAIS-IV may be useful. Unfortunately, no short form of the French version of WAIS-IV has yet been validated using the standardization sample.ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to identify an abbreviated form of WAIS-IV with sufficient validity and reliability to replace, in some cases, the full test.MethodFour short forms were developed taking into account the fidelity and the correlation with the FIQ of the subtests included in each of form. The metric qualities the four short forms were compared using the standardization data of the French WAIS-IV. The standardization was done using the results of a sample of 876 individuals representative of the French population from 16 to 79 years 11 months.ResultsThe analyzes showed that a short form including Information, Matrices, Arithmetic and Code provides a fairly good estimate of the FIQ. The fidelity of the estimated IQ was 0.94 and its correlation with the FIQ was 0.91. However, the average of the absolute differences between the IQ calculated with this short form and the IQ calculated with the full form was 4.24 points, with a standard deviation of 3.15 points. These differences could lead to misidentification of some individuals tested with the short form.ConclusionThe proposed short form provides a sufficient approximation of the FIQ to be used in research where the collective results are more important than those of individuals. This short form, however, does not provide an IQ measure as robust as the full form. It should therefore be used with caution only when using the full form is not possible.     

Using Curriculum-Based Measurement to Evaluate Intervention Efficacy

SUMMARY

The use of Curriculum-Based Measurement for evaluating treatment efficacy is described and discussed. The basic methods and applications of Curriculum-Based Measurement are described, followed by examples of its application in two intervention program evaluation projects. The first project involved one individual student experiencing academic difficulties. The second project focused on evaluating a reading instruction program for a group of students. In both examples, the use of Curriculum-Based Measurement contributed significantly to monitoring student progress in response to educational program variables and making treatment evaluation decisions.     

ERICA– an instrument to measure individual and collective regulation of learning

IntroductionThis paper presents two studies that aimed at validating the Individual and Collective Regulation of Learning Scale – ERICA.ObjectiveThe scale was developed to measure learner perceptions of macro-level co-regulation strategies in conjunction with self-regulation strategies learners use.MethodStudies in two separate educational settings are presented. The first with undergraduate psychology students (n = 547) tested the factorial structure and reliability that confirmed its psychometric qualities. The second with undergraduate healthcare students (n = 191) provided for tests of convergent and discriminant validity.ResultsThe studies confirm a six-dimensional structure that stands up to tests of validity for structure, consistency and convergence.ConclusionThe scale is suitable for use in various educational contexts and environments with large cohorts to study perceptions learners have of the strategies learners use related to planning, monitoring, assessment and decision-making regulation phases.     

Anxiety and dimensions of perfectionism in first year college students: The mediating role of mindfulness

IntroductionAnxiety and perfectionism affect academic success of college students. Mindfulness is associated with decrease anxiety and perfectionism among college students.ObjectiveThis study evaluates the mediating role of dispositional mindfulness on the relationship between adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism and anxiety in first year college students.MethodThe subjects, 283 first year college students (59.5% girls), completed self-reported measures of anxiety, perfectionism and dispositional mindfulness.ResultsOur results show that maladaptive perfectionism is associated with greater anxiety, and a higher dispositional mindfulness score is associated with less anxiety symptoms. Also, mindfulness mediates the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety symptoms, especially in girls. When the shared variance of maladaptive and adaptive perfectionism is statistically controlled, adaptive perfectionism is associated with anxiety symptoms in boys and mindfulness in girls.ConclusionThis study confirms the mediating role of mindfulness on the relation between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety. Gender differences, limits of the mindfulness measure and future research are discussed.     

Psychometric properties of the French version of the Herth Hope Index assessment (HHI-F)

IntroductionThe feeling of hope is an important factor in the well-being and mental health of individuals. The 12-item Herth Hope Index (HHI) measures different dimensions of hope and assesses the state of motivation to overcome situations with strong stressful or life threatening factors.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a French adaptation of the HHI.MethodBased on a French translation of the HHI made during a translation and counter-translation process (HHI-F), 247 higher education students completed an online survey on their mental health state during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the HHI-F. A principal factor analysis (PCA) and several confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted to compare the structure of the HHI-F with that of the original scale. Internal consistency and convergent validity were also assessed.ResultsThe best model relates to a two-factor solution, corresponding to the Spanish translation of the HHI. Internal consistency was very satisfactory, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .895 and a McDonald's Omega coefficient of .898. Significant correlations were observed between the HHI-F score and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS).DiscussionThe HHI-F showed good psychometric qualities, although its structure does not fully correspond to the original version of the HHI. This scale should thus facilitate research in mental health psychology among French-speaking audiences.