Learning to read and write in Spanish: phonology in addition to which other processes? / Aprendiendo a leer y escribir en español: además de la fonología, ¿qué otros procesos?

Abstract

This study reviews some of the most relevant cognitive skills related to literacy acquisition in Spanish. Beyond the well-known influence of phonological segmental skills, it highlights the growing importance of other cognitive skills needed for acquisition, whether explicit or implicit in nature, to which too little attention has been devoted, including suprasegmental or prosodic skills, morphological skills and the implicit learning of linguistic regularities. It appears that all these skills constitute relevant factors that should be taken into account in order to understand typical as well as atypical literacy development.     

Does monocular visual space contain planes?

The issue of the existence of planes—understood as the carriers of a nexus of straight lines—in the monocular visual space of a stationary human observer has never been addressed. The most recent empirical data apply to binocular visual space and date from the 1960s (Foley, 1964). This appears to be both the first and the last time this basic issue was addressed empirically. Yet the question is of considerable conceptual interest. Here we report on a direct empirical test of the existence of planes in monocular visual space for a group of sixteen experienced observers. For the majority of these observers monocular visual space lacks a projective structure, albeit in qualitatively different ways. This greatly reduces the set of viable geometrical models. For example, it rules out all the classical homogeneous spaces (the Cayley-Klein geometries) such as the familiar Luneburg model. The qualitatively different behavior of experienced observers implies that the generic population might well be inhomogeneous with respect to the structure of visual space.     

“It’s Challenging on a Personal Level”—Exploring the ‘Lived Experience’ of Australian and Canadian Prenatal Genetic Counselors

Prenatal genetic counselors work with clients who are at risk of having a child with a fetal anomaly, or who have been diagnosed with a fetal anomaly. This can raise challenging ethical, moral and legal issues for both clients and counselors. Few studies have explored whether this type of work impacts on genetic counselors themselves. Interviews were conducted with 15 prenatal genetic counselors, five from Toronto, Canada and ten from Melbourne, Australia. A qualitative approach was used to allow for an in-depth exploration of the experiences of genetic counselors working in the prenatal setting. While participants reported that working in a prenatal setting affected them in several ways, this paper focuses on one particular unanticipated finding—that of the impact experienced by counselors from both countries while working when pregnant.