Papers by Maurits Van Der Molen
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2016
Learning and Individual Differences, 2016
In the current study we examined the value of a dynamic test for predicting responsiveness to rea... more In the current study we examined the value of a dynamic test for predicting responsiveness to reading intervention for children diagnosed with dyslexia. The test consisted of a 20-minute training aimed at learning eight basic letter-speech sound correspondences within an artificial orthography, followed by a short assessment of both mastery of these correspondences and word reading ability in this unfamiliar script. Fifty-five (7-to 11-yearold) children diagnosed with dyslexia engaged in specialized intervention during approximately 10 months and their reading and spelling abilities were assessed before and after. Our results indicated that the dynamic test predicted variance in reading skills at posttest, over and above traditional static measures, such as phonological awareness and rapid naming. These findings indicate that responsiveness to learning new letter-speech sound correspondences has a prognostic value for the success of specialized reading intervention.
European Journal of Pediatrics, 1995
Acta Paediatrica, 1994
In the context of the Dutch Collaborative Study on the Psychological Development of Children, ear... more In the context of the Dutch Collaborative Study on the Psychological Development of Children, early treated for Phenylketonuria (PKU), data were obtained on children's behaviour as perceived by parents (n= 53) and teachers (n= 57), using standardized behavioural questionnaires. Results are compared with group representative of Dutch school‐aged children (n= 1381) with matched control group (n= 38), and with a group, to be considered as “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” (ADHD, n= 38). Especially the clusters “negative task orientation” and “extraversion” distinguish between PKU children and controls. In parents' descriptions as well as in teachers' descriptions PKU children score higher in both clusters. Intriguing differences are found between PKU and ADHD. In parents' but not in teachers' descriptions PKU children show signs of negative task orientation almost to similar degree as children with ADHD, but not of the signs of “negative social behaviour”, ...
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Oct 1, 2014
It has been assumed that fluent reading requires efficient integration of orthographic and phonol... more It has been assumed that fluent reading requires efficient integration of orthographic and phonological codes. However, it is thus far unclear how this integration process develops when children learn to become fluent readers. Therefore, we used masked priming to investigate time courses of orthographic and phonological code activation in children at incremental levels of reading development (2nd, 4th and 6th grade). The first study used targets with small phonological differences between phonological and orthographic primes, which are typical in transparent orthographies. The second study manipulated the strength of the phonological difference between prime and target to clarify whether phonological difference influences phonological priming effects. Results in both studies showed that orthographic priming effects became facilitative at increasingly short durations during reading development, but phonological priming was absent. These results are taken to suggest that development of reading fluency is accompanied by increased automatization of orthographic representations. The absence of phonological priming suggests that developing readers cannot yet activate phonological codes automatically.
Attention, perception & psychophysics, Oct 25, 2020
Since its introduction by B. A. Eriksen and C. W. Eriksen (Perception & Psychophysics, 16, 143-49... more Since its introduction by B. A. Eriksen and C. W. Eriksen (Perception & Psychophysics, 16, 143-49, 1974), the flanker task has emerged as one of the most important experimental tasks in the history of cognitive psychology. The impact of a seemingly simple task design involving a target stimulus flanked on each side by a few task-irrelevant stimuli is astounding. It has inspired research across the fields of cognitive neuroscience, psychophysiology, neurology, psychiatry, and sports science. In our tribute to Charles W. ("Erik") Eriksen, we (1) review the seminal papers originating from his lab in the 1970s that launched the paradigmatic task and laid the foundation for studies of action control, (2) describe the inception of the arrow version of the Eriksen flanker task, (3) articulate the conceptual and neural models of action control that emerged from studies of the arrows flanker task, and (4) illustrate the influential role of the arrows flanker task in disclosing developmental trends in action control, fundamental deficits in action control due to neuropsychiatric disorders, and enhanced action control among elite athletes.
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
Second language proficiency may be related to first language acquisition (Ganschow & Sparks, 1991... more Second language proficiency may be related to first language acquisition (Ganschow & Sparks, 1991), but relatively little is known about the relation between first and second language grammatical proficiency in primary school children who are in their first stages of foreign language learning. This study aims to determine whether differences in Dutch and English vocabulary and Dutch grammar skills predict differences in English grammatical proficiency in Dutch speaking children who are in grade 4 in primary school. The selected participants are monolingual Dutch pupils (N = 152), aged 9;0–10;0. To measure the children’s vocabulary the PPVT was used in Dutch (Schlichting, 2005) and in English (Dunn & Dunn, 2007). In addition, two grammar tasks in English and one in Dutch of the CELF (Semel et al., 2003) were used. The results show that English vocabulary is a strong predictor of English grammar skills, and that the Dutch vocabulary skills are weaker predictors of English grammar skil...
Frontiers in Psychology, 2021
We performed an EEG graph analysis on data from 31 typical readers (22.27 ± 2.53 y/o) and 24 dysl... more We performed an EEG graph analysis on data from 31 typical readers (22.27 ± 2.53 y/o) and 24 dyslexics (22.99 ± 2.29 y/o), recorded while they were engaged in an audiovisual task and during resting-state. The task simulates reading acquisition as participants learned new letter-sound mappings via feedback. EEG data was filtered for the delta (0.5–4 Hz), theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–13 Hz), and beta (13–30 Hz) bands. We computed the Phase Lag Index (PLI) to provide an estimate of the functional connectivity between all pairs of electrodes per band. Then, networks were constructed using a Minimum Spanning Tree (MST), a unique sub-graph connecting all nodes (electrodes) without loops, aimed at minimizing bias in between groups and conditions comparisons. Both groups showed a comparable accuracy increase during task blocks, indicating that they correctly learned the new associations. The EEG results revealed lower task-specific theta connectivity, and lower theta degree correlation over bot...
Psychophysiology, 2019
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Clinical Neurophysiology, 2016
h i g h l i g h t s Organization of brain networks in dyslexics and typically-reading controls. M... more h i g h l i g h t s Organization of brain networks in dyslexics and typically-reading controls. Minimum spanning tree (MST) graphs were derived from connectivity matrices. Graph metrics in the theta-band showed less integrated network configuration in dyslexics. a b s t r a c t Objective: Neuroimaging research suggested a mixed pattern of functional connectivity abnormalities in developmental dyslexia. We examined differences in the topological properties of functional networks between 29 dyslexics and 15 typically reading controls in 3rd grade using graph analysis. Graph metrics characterize brain networks in terms of integration and segregation. Method: We used EEG resting-state data and calculated weighted connectivity matrices for multiple frequency bands using the phase lag index (PLI). From the connectivity matrices we derived minimum spanning tree (MST) graphs representing the sub-networks with maximum connectivity. Statistical analyses were performed on graph-derived metrics as well as on the averaged PLI connectivity values. Results: We found group differences in the theta band for two graph metrics suggesting reduced network integration and communication between network nodes in dyslexics compared to controls. Conclusion: Collectively, our findings point to a less efficient network configuration in dyslexics relative to the more proficient configuration in the control group. Significance: Graph metrics relate to the intrinsic organization of functional brain networks. These metrics provide additional insights on the cognitive deficits underlying dyslexia and, thus, may advance our knowledge on reading development. Our findings add to the growing body literature suggesting compromised networks rather than specific dysfunctional brain regions in dyslexia.
Research in Developmental Disabilities, 2009
Working memory (WM) deficits are known to exist in children and adults with moderate or severe in... more Working memory (WM) deficits are known to exist in children and adults with moderate or severe intellectual disability (IQ below 55; see for a recent review Gathercole & Alloway, 2006). The literature on WM functioning in children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID; IQ 55-85), however, is relatively scant. 1 The aim of the present study was to identify WM strengths and weaknesses in children with MID and to explore whether subgroups exist with unique WM profiles within this heterogeneous population.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2004
This study examined age-related change in the ability to inhibit responses using two varieties of... more This study examined age-related change in the ability to inhibit responses using two varieties of the stop signal paradigm. Three age groups (29 7-year-olds, 24 10-year-olds, and 28 young adults) performed first on a visual choice reaction task in which the spatial mapping between the go signal and response was varied between blocks. The choice task was then complicated by randomly inserting a visual stop signal on 30% of the trials. In the simple stop signal paradigm, the stop signal required the inhibition of the planned response. In the selective stop signal paradigm, the stop signal required response inhibition only when the stop signal was presented at the same side as the instructed response to the go signal. The results showed that simple stopping was faster than selective stopping and that selective, but not simple, stopping of incompatible responses was slower than stopping of compatible responses. Brinley plot analysis yielded linear functions relating childrenÕs latencies to adultsÕ latencies. Analysis of shared variance indicated that developmental change in the speed of selective stopping continued to be significant even when the effect associated with simple stopping was removed. This pattern of findings is discussed visa -vis notions of global versus specific developmental trends in the speed of information processing.
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2002
The research of K.R.R. has been made possible by a fellowship of the Royal Netherlands Academy of... more The research of K.R.R. has been made possible by a fellowship of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. We thank Jos Blom for various important contributions to this project, and Marcus Spaan for technical assistance.
Brain and Cognition, 2012
The ability to flexibly adapt to the changing demands of the environment is often reported as a c... more The ability to flexibly adapt to the changing demands of the environment is often reported as a core deficit in fragile X syndrome (FXS). However, the cognitive processes that determine this attentional setshifting deficit remain elusive. The present study investigated attentional set-shifting ability in fragile X syndrome males with the well-validated intra/extra dimensional set-shifting paradigm (IED) which offers detailed assessment of rule learning, reversal learning, and attentional set-shifting ability within and between stimulus dimensions. A novel scoring method for IED stage errors was employed to interpret set-shifting failure in terms of repetitive decision-making, distraction to irrelevance, and set-maintenance failure. Performance of FXS males was compared to typically developing children matched on mental age, adults matched on chronological age, and individuals with Down syndrome matched on both mental and chronological age. Results revealed that a significant proportion of FXS males already failed prior to the intra-dimensional set-shift stage, whereas all control participants successfully completed the stages up to the crucial extra-dimensional set-shift. FXS males showed a specific weakness in reversal learning, which was characterized by repetitive decision-making during the reversal of newly acquired stimulus-response associations in the face of simple stimulus configurations. In contrast, when stimulus configurations became more complex, FXS males displayed increased distraction to irrelevant stimuli. These findings are interpreted in terms of the cognitive demands imposed by the stages of the IED in relation to the alleged neural deficits in FXS.
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Papers by Maurits Van Der Molen