Transcript BSU Reading Conference - Bridgewater State University

BSU 12th Annual Reading Conference
Auditory and Reading
Comprehension:
A Brain-Based Perspective
Ahmed M. Abdelal, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor
of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Bridgewater State University
Bridgewater, MA
[email protected]
What They Have in Common
• Both involve language
• Both depend on:
– Emotional involvement
– Executive functioning skills
– Attention
– Working memory
– Long-term memory
– They share many brain mechanisms
Some Major Differences
Auditory Comprehension
• Involves auditory
channels
• Not directly taught
• Less demanding
Reading Comprehension
• Involves visual or tactile
channels
• Must be taught
• Can be negatively
Influenced by fluency
level
Overview of Language Anatomy
• Language Implementation System
• Conceptual System
• Mediational System
Kandel et al, 2000
Language Implementation System
 Analyzes auditory signals in order
to activate conceptual knowledge
 Ensures phonemic and
grammatical construction and
articulatory control
Conceptual System
• A collection of regions throughout the
remainder higher-order association
cortices
• Supports conceptual knowledge
Neurocognitive
Requirements
for
Information
Processing
Neurocognitive Requirements
for Comprehension
• Emotional involvement
• Executive Functions
• Attention skills
• Working Memory
• Long-term memory skills
Why Emotions Are Important for Learning
• Emotional system:
• primary function is self preservation
– Guides our judgment & actions
– Enables us to construct goals
– Enable us to transfer school learning to real-life
decision making
– We use past emotional knowledge to guide our
reasoning process
• Social regulation
• Moral reasoning
(Immordino-Yang & Damasio, 2007)
Why Emotions Are Important for Learning
• While making decisions we analyze events
in their emotional context.
• We consider our past experiences
– Rewards & punishments
– Successes and failures
– Praise and disapproval
Attention
• Is a state of being, not an anatomical
entity
• Has many components of attention
• Works in coordination with EF & WM
• Neurobiological research views
motivation as the engine that
activates and maintains attention
Working Memory
• Each of the 5 primary senses has a
working memory that serves it
• Visual Working Memory sustains:
– Images and shapes of objects
– Dimensions & spatial properties
– 1-2 seconds
Working Memory
• Verbal Working Memory
• For verbal and written information
• Major components:
– Phonological loop
– Phonemic buffer
• 0.5 to 3 seconds
• Enables us to forget and encode
Interaction Between Attention & W. Memory
• During acquisition of new skills
• Role of attention resource allocation
system
• What happens when reading fluency is
decreased?
• Analysis & synthesis are a product of the
interaction between attention & WM
Executive Functions
• A number of “complex cognitive processes
that serve ongoing, goal-directed
behaviors”
(Meltzer 2007)
• Include:
– Goal setting & planning
– Flexibility
– Self-regulatory functions
Executive Functions
• Self-regulation
– Organization of behavior:
• Initiating, sustaining, shifting, inhibiting
– Self-monitoring
– Managing time resources
– Backtracking
– Identifying errors
– Monitoring progress towards goal
– Shifting mindset
Mechanics of Auditory Processing
• From sound waves to neural energy
• Analysis of frequency & loudness
• On the level of the auditory nerve &
auditory pathways
Mechanics of Auditory Processing
• In the temporal cortex:
– Sounds identified & paired with neural
representations
– Sounds are assembled into words
– Words are paired with their meanings
– Meaningful word sent to frontal lobe
centers
Mechanics of Auditory Processing
• In the frontal lobe:
– Broca’s area verifies meaning &
grammatical properties
– Numerous decisions are made about
word categories, semantic connotations,
etc
– The processed word is sent back to
temporal cortex
Reading Comprehension
“Reading is an interaction
among the reader, the situation,
the task, and the text that
results in the construction of
meaning”
(Meltzer 2007, 194)
Reading Comprehension
• To comprehend meaning of
the text, the reader relies on
EFs to monitor and take
charge of the construction of
meaning
(Meltzer 2007)
Role of EFs in Reading Comprehension
• The good reader is engaged in:
– Active, conscious effort
– Thinking & problem-solving
– Ongoing expansion and refinement of
vocabulary
– Progress monitoring
(Kintsch 2004; Joyce, Weil & Calhoun, 2004)
•
Role of Executive Control in
Reading Comprehension
• The good reader starts with a
comprehension goal & a plan for
monitoring progress toward that
goal
– Prioritizing is part of the plan
Role of Executive Control in
Reading Comprehension
• The good reader…..
•
•
•
•
Identifies and coordinates strategies
Organizes incoming information
Monitoring progress toward goal
Can demonstrate understanding of
the text
Executive Control of Reading
Comprehension
• Gaskins, Satlow & Pressley (2007)
have identified 7 EC principles that
govern the relationship between EFs
& reading comprehension.
(in Meltzer 2007, 194-215)
The 7 Executive Control Principles
• Reading must make sense
• Understanding results from planning
to understand
– Survey, predict, set purpose
• Prioritizing maximizes time & effort
The 7 Executive Control Principles
• Accessing background information
helps organize new information
• Ongoing self-checking enhances goal
achievement
The 7 Executive Control Principles
• Cognitive flexibility provides
opportunities for increased
understanding
• Ongoing self-assessment improves
understanding
(Meltzer 2007, 194-215)
Maximizing Emotional Involvement
• Establish a friendly atmosphere in class
– Negative affect narrows creativity (D. Rose)
• Clearly highlight value of the info to life
experiences
• Understand the learner
– Background knowledge & thinking
– Take learner variability in perspective
– Judge a person by the questions s/he asks
Maximizing Emotional Involvement
• Ask questions
–Questions you ask enables student to
hone on the target information
–Sharpen focus on the learning goals
Maximizing Emotional Involvement
•
•
•
•
Emphasize salient goals and objectives
Frequently remind student of goals
Collaboration & group work
Vary response methods
– Will engage multiple networks
• Monitor motivation
Facilitate Integration by:
• Putting new information in
its context
• Activating background
knowledge &
•Emphasizing connections
among things
Placing Things in Context
• The brain is always trying to predict things in
the environment
– Looks for patterns
– Encodes & recalls info. in context
– When we recall events we recall our experiences
with them
– There is a special network that allows us to focus on
specific things within their context
• A major goal of educators should be:
highlighting the patterns of things
Placing Things in Context
• Role play & acting
• Enable people live the experience
• Provide a meaningful context
The Reading Material
• Value of realistic stories/examples
from life:
–Induce physical feelings in us
–Elevate our emotional response to
learning
–Enable us to live the experience
–Increase our motivation
Role of Sleep
• Required for all types of cognitive
functions
• Necessary for emotional intelligence
• Improves mood & empathy
• Elevates internal motivation
• Improves attention
•
Sleep & Emotional Regulation
Mood:
• Sleep plays a major role in emotional
regulation (Walker 2009; Walker & Van Der Helm, 2009)
• Sleep leads to:
– More efficient rationalization and resolution
of interpersonal conflicts, moral reasoning,
decision making, emotional expression, and
processing of emotional faces.
(Pace-Schott et al 2011)
Sleep Improves:
-self-regard
-assertiveness
-independence
-self-actualization
Conclusions
• The material for auditory and reading
comprehension is language
• For the most part the two types of
processing utilize the same mechanisms
• Both types of processing can be effectively
enhanced through improving executive
functions
Conclusions
• The role of emotions in learning is just
beginning to be understood
• Sleep regulation is crucial for information
processing and all types of neurocognitive
functions
• Physical exercises improve WM &
attention, which will significantly improve
information processing