Simultaneous and Successive Cognitive Processing and Writing Skills

Abstract

This pilot study investigated relationships between individual differences in levels of writing skills and proficiencies at simultaneous and successive cognitive processing. Data from a group of 46 subjects indicate that scores on successive processing tasks were able to predict final grades in an introductory English composition course (p<.01). This suggested both the possibility and importance of investigating further how simultaneous and (especially) successive processing relate to writing skills. With three subjects used for pilot data, low scores in successive processing showed relationships with sentence-level errors and with the ability to develop sequences of ideas in writing. Low scores in simultaneous processing correlated with an inability to indicate clear relationships between sentences and paragraphs. Planning, a third cognitive factor, was found to be a powerful influence in organizing content. In the interaction of planning and simultaneous processing, lack of planning ability may interfere with the writer's ability to survey and thus organize his or her material.

Aspects of written language production over adult life.

“…Spontaneous written output, even by subjects of average to above-average mental ability, contains various faults reflecting task difficulty and literary competence. These faults involve punctuation, spelling, noun and verb inflections, word omissions and repetitions, as well as local and overall cohesion (Harris & Wachs, 1986). These features, however, are not relevant to the present inquiry and are not included in the analysis.…”

New U–Pb zircon ages and the duration and division of Devonian time

“…The interval was originally identified as the Tioga zone by Dennison and Boucot [33], but later work by Harris [34] identified the Frasnian conodont Palmatolepis punctata from shale within the interval (beds 61-64). Palmatolepispunctata ranges from the base of its zone through at least the Pa. hassi Zone, but probably not into the succeeding Pa. jamieae or Pa. rhenana Zones.…”

Identifying and Supporting Spatial Intelligence in Young Children

“…In his terms, simultaneous processing is characterised by a facility towards the manipulation of spatial sensory data in contrast to successive synthesis, which involves the manipulation of information arranged sequentially. The capacity to process information simultaneously is correlated with measures of field independence and with a range of achievements in problem-solving, mathematics achievement and reading comprehension (Das & Varnhagen, 1986;Harris & Wachs, 1986;Woodley, 1993;Watters & English, 1995). Additionally, Languis & Miller (1992) have demonstrated that brain processing patterns as measured by electroencephalographic (EEG) techniques correlate with performance in higher order cognitive tasks in a manner consistent with Luria's theory.…”