Assessment of Calculation and Number Processing by Adults: Cognitive and Neuropsychological Issues

Abstract

Calculation and number processing abilities were assessed in normal (n = 138) and traumatic brain-injured (n = 15) Brazilian literature subjects. The study aimed (i) to analyse the effects of demographic factors and to provide tentative norms adjusted for the relevant variables, (ii) to examine the factorial structure of the battery and to evaluate its clinical validity for diagnosis purposes, and (iii) to question the power of current models to account for effects and dissociations found for these groups. Analysis indicated a main effect of education on most subtests and of sex on three, but none for age. Cut-off scores for normality were defined at Percentile 10 with reference to education. The sensitivity of the battery to the presence of arithmetical impairments was considered satisfactory since 11 out of the 15 patients showed pathological scores. A principal component analysis indicated that the different sub-tests were grouped into three factors, which were tentatively interpreted with reference to current information-processing models. The multiple single-case analysis of dissociations in patients' performance suggested some limits with respect to anatomo-functional models of calculation and number processing.

Integrating intention and context: assessing social cognition in adults with Asperger syndrome

“…However, some limitations of this study should be acknowledged. First, our sample size is relatively small, but it is similar to previous social cognition studies (Dziobek et al, 2008; Zalla et al, 2009; Moran et al, 2011) and it is also similar to other reports that have explored the cognitive variability of adults with AS (Hill and Bird, 2006; Towgood et al, 2009) and other patient populations (Deloche et al, 1999; Ramus et al, 2003). Moreover, unlike other reports (Baron-Cohen et al, 2001; Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright, 2004; Moran et al, 2011; Zalla et al, 2011), we only included individuals diagnosed with AS.…”

An Epidemiological Study of Number Processing and Mental Calculation in Greek Schoolchildren

“…The NUCALC battery includes 11 subtests, descriptions of which have been published in French (Deloche et al, 1995), in German (von Aster et al, 1997), and in English (Dellatolas et al, 2000;Deloche, Souza, Willadino-Braga, & Dellatolas, 1999).…”

“…The child reads aloud six numbers written in Arabic numerals (305; 57; 6,485; 138; 15; 1,900). This is the opposite transcoding task to the dictation of numbers, because these two tasks involve the same two numerical systems-that is, Arabic digits and spoken verbal numbersbut the two tasks exchange their source and object codes (Deloche et al, 1999).…”

“…Difficulty factors are the size of the numbers (i.e., the number of words required to present each pair) and the quantitative difference between them. The child has to apply three strategies: semantic (for accessing the internal representation of the numbers), ana-lytic, and perceptual (for comparing the size of digit strings or, in case of equal size of strings, the leftmost digits in the two strings; Deloche et al, 1999).…”

Basic number processing deficits in ADHD: a broad examination of elementary and complex number processing skills in 9‐ to 12‐year‐old children with ADHD‐C

“…Dehaene & Cohen, 1995; McCloskey, Caramazza & Basili, 1985). Evidence for these models comes from studies of acquired dyscalculia (Dehaene & Cohen, 1995, 1997; Delazer, Karner, Zamarian, Donnemiller & Benke, 2006) and studies of typical adults (Deloche, Souza, Willadino‐Braga & Dellatolas, 1999; Geary & Widaman, 1992) and children (Dowker, 1998, 2005; Ginsburg, 1977; Jordan, Hanich & Uberti, 2003; Wilson & Dehaene, 2007).…”