Pierluigi Zoccolotti - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Pierluigi Zoccolotti

Frontiers in Psychology

Learning skills (as well as disorders) tend to be associated; however, cognitive models typically... more Learning skills (as well as disorders) tend to be associated; however, cognitive models typically focus either on reading, spelling or maths providing no clear basis for interpreting this phenomenon. A recent new model of learning cognitive skills proposes that the association among learning skills (and potentially the comorbidity of learning disorders) depends in part from the individual ability to consolidate instances (taken as a measure of rate of learning). We examined the performance of typically developing fifth graders over the acquisition of a novel paper-and-pencil task that could be solved based on an algorithm or, with practice, with reference to specific instances. Our aim was to establish a measure of individual rate of learning using parameters envisaged by the instance theory of automatization by Logan and correlate it to tasks requiring knowledge of individual items (e.g., spelling words with an ambiguous transcription) or tasks requiring the application of a rule o...

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

In a previous study (Zoccolotti et al., 2020) we examined reading, spelling, and maths skills in ... more In a previous study (Zoccolotti et al., 2020) we examined reading, spelling, and maths skills in an unselected group of 129 Italian children attending fifth grade by testing various cognitive predictors; results showed a high degree of predictors’ selectivity for each of these three behaviors. In the present study, we focused on the specificity of the predictors by performing cross-analyses on the same dataset; i.e., we predicted spelling and maths skills based on reading predictors, reading based on maths predictors and so on. Results indicated that some predictors, such as the Orthographic Decision and the Arithmetic Facts tests, predicted reading, spelling and maths skills in similar ways, while others predicted different behaviors but only for a specific parameter, such as fluency but not accuracy (as in the case of RAN), and still others were specific for a single behavior (e.g., Visual-auditory Pseudo-word Matching test predicted only spelling skills). To interpret these resul...

Brain Sciences

There is continuing debate concerning the definition and diagnosis of dyslexia [...]

Cognitive Neuropsychology

ABSTRACT Wybrow & Hanley (2015) reported that proportions of phonological and surface dyslexi... more ABSTRACT Wybrow & Hanley (2015) reported that proportions of phonological and surface dyslexics change depending on how control groups are selected. This observation questions the appropriateness of the reading-level match design for establishing causality in cognitive studies of reading. Here, I focus on three features: (1) the lack of an explicit definition of the reading-level concept; (2) the metric problems associated with using this design; and (3) the ambiguity of the delay-deviance contrast in interpreting reading deficits. I also delineate alternative methodological features that could effectively inform developmental designs. Thus, I argue that (a) control variables should be as independent of the target-dependent measure as possible; (b) they should be shaped within the theoretical aims of the study and be explicitly considered in the interpretation of findings; and, (c) conditions of interest should be viewed along with critically associated conditions using approaches that allow predicting the size of the expected deficit..

Brain Sciences

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Cerebrovascular diseases, including stroke, are historically considered diseases of old adults so... more Cerebrovascular diseases, including stroke, are historically considered diseases of old adults so only in a few studies has “return to work” (RTW) been considered as an index of rehabilitative outcome. At the moment, data on RTW in patients with stroke are highly variable: four different reviews reported the following ranges: 11–85%, 19–73%, 22–53%, and 40–45%. The absence of re-integration to work after a stroke is shown to be associated with an increase of cardiac disorders and depression, with a higher level of mortality, with social isolation and with insufficient adaptive skills. The aim of this study was to verify the effectiveness of technological treatment, performed with optic (SonicHand) and wearable (Riablo™) systems providing auditory and visual biofeedback, on RTW in patients with stroke. RTW was found to be associated with a higher independence in the activities of daily living (assessed by the Modified Barthel Index). No significant differences were found between tech...

Frontiers in psychology, 2018

The study examined whether developmental deficits in reading and numerical skills could be expres... more The study examined whether developmental deficits in reading and numerical skills could be expressed in terms of global factors by reference to the rate and amount (RAM) and difference engine (DEM) models. From a sample of 325 fifth grade children, we identified 5 children with dyslexia, 16 with dyscalculia, 7 with a "mixed pattern," and 49 control children. Children were asked to read aloud words presented individually that varied for frequency and length and to respond (either vocally or manually) to a series of simple number tasks (addition, subtraction, number reading, and number comparisons). Reaction times were measured. Results indicated that the deficit of children with dyscalculia and children with a mixed pattern on numerical tasks could be explained by a single global factor, similarly to the reading deficit shown by children with dyslexia. As predicted by the DEM, increases in task difficulty were accompanied by a corresponding increase in inter-individual vari...

Frontiers in psychology, 2018

Children with dyslexia are extremely slow at reading long words but they are faster with stimuli ... more Children with dyslexia are extremely slow at reading long words but they are faster with stimuli composed of roots and derivational suffixes (e.g., CASSIERE, 'cashier') than stimuli not decomposable in morphemes (e.g., CAMMELLO, 'camel'). The present study assessed whether root length modulates children's morphological processing. For typically developing readers, root activation was expected to be higher for longer than shorter roots because longer roots are more informative access units than shorter ones. By contrast, readers with dyslexia were not expected to be facilitated by longer roots because these roots might exceed dyslexics' processing capacities. Two groups of Italian 6th graders, with and without dyslexia, read aloud low-frequency derived words, with familiar roots and suffixes. Word reaction times (RTs) and mispronunciations were recorded. Linear mixed-effects regression analyses on RTs showed the inhibitory effect of word length and the facilit...

European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine, Jan 24, 2017

Rehabilitation of unilateral neglect has focused on the ego-centric form of the disturbance. Howe... more Rehabilitation of unilateral neglect has focused on the ego-centric form of the disturbance. However, allocentric neglect is known to predict failure in the activities of daily life even more than egocentric neglect. We submitted a patient (CMC) with severe egocentric and allocentric left-sided neglect to an extensive prism adaptation training. After treatment, CMC's commission errors on the left side of targets (allocentric neglect) persisted and actually increased in parallel with her increased exploration of left space (egocentric neglect). Despite the improvement in a number of cognitive and motor areas, CMC showed limited improvement in ADL. These observations confirm the dissociation between egocentric and allocentric neglect and the selective efficacy of the prism adaptation method on the former form. There is a need to develop new rehabilitation methods for allocentric neglect as this limits the complete recovery of patients particularly in terms of ADL.

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

The word superiority effect (WSE) denotes better recognition of a letter embedded in a word rathe... more The word superiority effect (WSE) denotes better recognition of a letter embedded in a word rather than in a pseudoword. Along with WSE, also a pseudoword superiority effect (PSE) has been described: It is easier to recognise a letter in a legal pseudoword than in an unpronounceable nonword. At the current state of the art, both WSE and PSE have been mainly tested with English speakers. This study uses the Reicher–Wheeler paradigm with native speakers of Italian (a shallow orthography language). Different from English and French, we found WSE for reaction times (RTs) only, whereas PSE was significant for both accuracy and RTs. This finding indicates that in the Reicher–Wheeler task, readers of a shallow orthography language can effectively rely on both the lexical and the sublexical routes. As to the effect of letter position, a clear advantage for the first-letter position emerged, a finding suggesting a fine-grained processing of the letter strings with coding of letter position a...

Experimental brain research, Oct 25, 2017

We examined the slowing in vocal reaction times shown by dyslexic (compared to control) children ... more We examined the slowing in vocal reaction times shown by dyslexic (compared to control) children with that of older (compared to younger) adults using an approach focusing on the detection of global, non-task-specific components. To address this aim, data were analyzed with reference to the difference engine (DEM) and rate and amount (RAM) models. In Experiment 1, typically developing children, children with dyslexia (both attending sixth grade), younger adults and older adults read words and non-words and named pictures. In Experiment 2, word and picture conditions were presented to dyslexic and control children attending eighth grade. In both experiments, dyslexic children were delayed in reading conditions, while they were unimpaired in naming pictures (a finding which indicates spared access to the phonological lexicon). The reading difficulty was well accounted for by a single multiplicative factor while only the residual effect of length (but not frequency and lexicality) was ...

Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, Feb 1, 2006

The aim of the present paper is to review several studies which assessed the validity of a visuo-... more The aim of the present paper is to review several studies which assessed the validity of a visuo-spatial training for the rehabilitation of neglect patients. In addition two peripheral stimulations (TENS and Optokinetic Stimulation) have been studied to assess the improvements of neglect disorders when used in combination with the visuo-spatial training. Also we analyzed the potential effect of training for attention on neglect and, viceversa, the effect of visuo-spatial training on attentional impairments. the goals have been investigated by both group studies and descriptions of single cases. The visuo-spatial training produced significant improvements on the performance of neglect patients which generalized to every day living situations: the results showed to be stable over time and had positive effects on a variety of other neurological impairments. It was also shown that the improvements are confined to tasks involving spatial exploration of extrapersonal space, but did not extend to other neglect disorders, such as representational and personal neglect. The use of peripheral stimulations, at variance with other studies in the literature, did not add any advantage as compared to the improvements produced by the visuo-spatial training. No transfer between training for neglect and attention was observed. the present review pointed out that neglect disorders can be improved in a clinically meaningful way: the studies described also showed some limitations and proposed the need of further researches in order to extend the improvements to several other aspects of the neglect syndrome.

Rivista Internazionale Di Filosofia E Psicologia, Jun 21, 2013

█ Riassunto Viene descritta l'opera di James Hinshelwood, un chirurgo oculista inglese il quale, ... more █ Riassunto Viene descritta l'opera di James Hinshelwood, un chirurgo oculista inglese il quale, a cavallo della fine del XIX secolo analizza prima una serie ampia di casi di dislessia acquisita e successivamente una serie di casi con disturbi di tipo evolutivo. La proposta interpretativa di Hinshelwood accomuna il disturbo evolutivo per tipologia (anche se non per gravità) a quello mostrato da pazienti con alessia pura senza agrafia o word blindness. Nel corso del ventesimo secolo, tuttavia, l'idea di una base visiva del disturbo evolutivo viene progressivamente messa da parte a favore di interpretazioni che enfatizzano la perturbazione di processi centrali di tipo fonologico e/o lessicale. Viene qui proposto che l'intuizione di Hinshelwood di una continuità tra disturbi evolutivi e word blindness debba essere riconsiderata alla luce sia di dati comportamentali sia di recenti studi di neuroimmagine funzionale. PAROLE CHIAVE: Dislessia acquisita; Dislessia evolutiva; Disgarfia acquisita; Alessia pura; James Hinshelwood.

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2015

The autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent a group of clinical conditions characterized by abn... more The autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent a group of clinical conditions characterized by abnormal communication, impaired socialization and restricted activities and interests. These conditions can be associated to varying degrees of cognitive disabilities. The cognitive profile of individuals with ASD is complex with areas of strength in visuo-spatial, sensory-motor and memory abilities and areas of weakness in executive functions, attention, abstract reasoning, formation

International Journal of Neuroscience, 1990

Shape, size and relative position in space perception were tested in 17 right brain damaged (RBD)... more Shape, size and relative position in space perception were tested in 17 right brain damaged (RBD) patients with neglect symptoms, 10 RBD patients without neglect and 11 controls. Simultaneous pair comparison task in free vision was used. Two arrangements of the visual display were used: side by side and top-bottom. Neglect patients' performance was comparable to RBD and controls in the shape and size test, but was below the other groups in the relative space position test. The selective failure of neglect patients in the position task did not depend on the spatial arrangement of the visual display, which may indicate a general perceptual deficit, rather than a deficit restricted to the neglect hemifield.

Frontiers in Psychology

Learning skills (as well as disorders) tend to be associated; however, cognitive models typically... more Learning skills (as well as disorders) tend to be associated; however, cognitive models typically focus either on reading, spelling or maths providing no clear basis for interpreting this phenomenon. A recent new model of learning cognitive skills proposes that the association among learning skills (and potentially the comorbidity of learning disorders) depends in part from the individual ability to consolidate instances (taken as a measure of rate of learning). We examined the performance of typically developing fifth graders over the acquisition of a novel paper-and-pencil task that could be solved based on an algorithm or, with practice, with reference to specific instances. Our aim was to establish a measure of individual rate of learning using parameters envisaged by the instance theory of automatization by Logan and correlate it to tasks requiring knowledge of individual items (e.g., spelling words with an ambiguous transcription) or tasks requiring the application of a rule o...

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

In a previous study (Zoccolotti et al., 2020) we examined reading, spelling, and maths skills in ... more In a previous study (Zoccolotti et al., 2020) we examined reading, spelling, and maths skills in an unselected group of 129 Italian children attending fifth grade by testing various cognitive predictors; results showed a high degree of predictors’ selectivity for each of these three behaviors. In the present study, we focused on the specificity of the predictors by performing cross-analyses on the same dataset; i.e., we predicted spelling and maths skills based on reading predictors, reading based on maths predictors and so on. Results indicated that some predictors, such as the Orthographic Decision and the Arithmetic Facts tests, predicted reading, spelling and maths skills in similar ways, while others predicted different behaviors but only for a specific parameter, such as fluency but not accuracy (as in the case of RAN), and still others were specific for a single behavior (e.g., Visual-auditory Pseudo-word Matching test predicted only spelling skills). To interpret these resul...

Brain Sciences

There is continuing debate concerning the definition and diagnosis of dyslexia [...]

Cognitive Neuropsychology

ABSTRACT Wybrow & Hanley (2015) reported that proportions of phonological and surface dyslexi... more ABSTRACT Wybrow & Hanley (2015) reported that proportions of phonological and surface dyslexics change depending on how control groups are selected. This observation questions the appropriateness of the reading-level match design for establishing causality in cognitive studies of reading. Here, I focus on three features: (1) the lack of an explicit definition of the reading-level concept; (2) the metric problems associated with using this design; and (3) the ambiguity of the delay-deviance contrast in interpreting reading deficits. I also delineate alternative methodological features that could effectively inform developmental designs. Thus, I argue that (a) control variables should be as independent of the target-dependent measure as possible; (b) they should be shaped within the theoretical aims of the study and be explicitly considered in the interpretation of findings; and, (c) conditions of interest should be viewed along with critically associated conditions using approaches that allow predicting the size of the expected deficit..

Brain Sciences

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Cerebrovascular diseases, including stroke, are historically considered diseases of old adults so... more Cerebrovascular diseases, including stroke, are historically considered diseases of old adults so only in a few studies has “return to work” (RTW) been considered as an index of rehabilitative outcome. At the moment, data on RTW in patients with stroke are highly variable: four different reviews reported the following ranges: 11–85%, 19–73%, 22–53%, and 40–45%. The absence of re-integration to work after a stroke is shown to be associated with an increase of cardiac disorders and depression, with a higher level of mortality, with social isolation and with insufficient adaptive skills. The aim of this study was to verify the effectiveness of technological treatment, performed with optic (SonicHand) and wearable (Riablo™) systems providing auditory and visual biofeedback, on RTW in patients with stroke. RTW was found to be associated with a higher independence in the activities of daily living (assessed by the Modified Barthel Index). No significant differences were found between tech...

Frontiers in psychology, 2018

The study examined whether developmental deficits in reading and numerical skills could be expres... more The study examined whether developmental deficits in reading and numerical skills could be expressed in terms of global factors by reference to the rate and amount (RAM) and difference engine (DEM) models. From a sample of 325 fifth grade children, we identified 5 children with dyslexia, 16 with dyscalculia, 7 with a "mixed pattern," and 49 control children. Children were asked to read aloud words presented individually that varied for frequency and length and to respond (either vocally or manually) to a series of simple number tasks (addition, subtraction, number reading, and number comparisons). Reaction times were measured. Results indicated that the deficit of children with dyscalculia and children with a mixed pattern on numerical tasks could be explained by a single global factor, similarly to the reading deficit shown by children with dyslexia. As predicted by the DEM, increases in task difficulty were accompanied by a corresponding increase in inter-individual vari...

Frontiers in psychology, 2018

Children with dyslexia are extremely slow at reading long words but they are faster with stimuli ... more Children with dyslexia are extremely slow at reading long words but they are faster with stimuli composed of roots and derivational suffixes (e.g., CASSIERE, 'cashier') than stimuli not decomposable in morphemes (e.g., CAMMELLO, 'camel'). The present study assessed whether root length modulates children's morphological processing. For typically developing readers, root activation was expected to be higher for longer than shorter roots because longer roots are more informative access units than shorter ones. By contrast, readers with dyslexia were not expected to be facilitated by longer roots because these roots might exceed dyslexics' processing capacities. Two groups of Italian 6th graders, with and without dyslexia, read aloud low-frequency derived words, with familiar roots and suffixes. Word reaction times (RTs) and mispronunciations were recorded. Linear mixed-effects regression analyses on RTs showed the inhibitory effect of word length and the facilit...

European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine, Jan 24, 2017

Rehabilitation of unilateral neglect has focused on the ego-centric form of the disturbance. Howe... more Rehabilitation of unilateral neglect has focused on the ego-centric form of the disturbance. However, allocentric neglect is known to predict failure in the activities of daily life even more than egocentric neglect. We submitted a patient (CMC) with severe egocentric and allocentric left-sided neglect to an extensive prism adaptation training. After treatment, CMC's commission errors on the left side of targets (allocentric neglect) persisted and actually increased in parallel with her increased exploration of left space (egocentric neglect). Despite the improvement in a number of cognitive and motor areas, CMC showed limited improvement in ADL. These observations confirm the dissociation between egocentric and allocentric neglect and the selective efficacy of the prism adaptation method on the former form. There is a need to develop new rehabilitation methods for allocentric neglect as this limits the complete recovery of patients particularly in terms of ADL.

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

The word superiority effect (WSE) denotes better recognition of a letter embedded in a word rathe... more The word superiority effect (WSE) denotes better recognition of a letter embedded in a word rather than in a pseudoword. Along with WSE, also a pseudoword superiority effect (PSE) has been described: It is easier to recognise a letter in a legal pseudoword than in an unpronounceable nonword. At the current state of the art, both WSE and PSE have been mainly tested with English speakers. This study uses the Reicher–Wheeler paradigm with native speakers of Italian (a shallow orthography language). Different from English and French, we found WSE for reaction times (RTs) only, whereas PSE was significant for both accuracy and RTs. This finding indicates that in the Reicher–Wheeler task, readers of a shallow orthography language can effectively rely on both the lexical and the sublexical routes. As to the effect of letter position, a clear advantage for the first-letter position emerged, a finding suggesting a fine-grained processing of the letter strings with coding of letter position a...

Experimental brain research, Oct 25, 2017

We examined the slowing in vocal reaction times shown by dyslexic (compared to control) children ... more We examined the slowing in vocal reaction times shown by dyslexic (compared to control) children with that of older (compared to younger) adults using an approach focusing on the detection of global, non-task-specific components. To address this aim, data were analyzed with reference to the difference engine (DEM) and rate and amount (RAM) models. In Experiment 1, typically developing children, children with dyslexia (both attending sixth grade), younger adults and older adults read words and non-words and named pictures. In Experiment 2, word and picture conditions were presented to dyslexic and control children attending eighth grade. In both experiments, dyslexic children were delayed in reading conditions, while they were unimpaired in naming pictures (a finding which indicates spared access to the phonological lexicon). The reading difficulty was well accounted for by a single multiplicative factor while only the residual effect of length (but not frequency and lexicality) was ...

Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, Feb 1, 2006

The aim of the present paper is to review several studies which assessed the validity of a visuo-... more The aim of the present paper is to review several studies which assessed the validity of a visuo-spatial training for the rehabilitation of neglect patients. In addition two peripheral stimulations (TENS and Optokinetic Stimulation) have been studied to assess the improvements of neglect disorders when used in combination with the visuo-spatial training. Also we analyzed the potential effect of training for attention on neglect and, viceversa, the effect of visuo-spatial training on attentional impairments. the goals have been investigated by both group studies and descriptions of single cases. The visuo-spatial training produced significant improvements on the performance of neglect patients which generalized to every day living situations: the results showed to be stable over time and had positive effects on a variety of other neurological impairments. It was also shown that the improvements are confined to tasks involving spatial exploration of extrapersonal space, but did not extend to other neglect disorders, such as representational and personal neglect. The use of peripheral stimulations, at variance with other studies in the literature, did not add any advantage as compared to the improvements produced by the visuo-spatial training. No transfer between training for neglect and attention was observed. the present review pointed out that neglect disorders can be improved in a clinically meaningful way: the studies described also showed some limitations and proposed the need of further researches in order to extend the improvements to several other aspects of the neglect syndrome.

Rivista Internazionale Di Filosofia E Psicologia, Jun 21, 2013

█ Riassunto Viene descritta l'opera di James Hinshelwood, un chirurgo oculista inglese il quale, ... more █ Riassunto Viene descritta l'opera di James Hinshelwood, un chirurgo oculista inglese il quale, a cavallo della fine del XIX secolo analizza prima una serie ampia di casi di dislessia acquisita e successivamente una serie di casi con disturbi di tipo evolutivo. La proposta interpretativa di Hinshelwood accomuna il disturbo evolutivo per tipologia (anche se non per gravità) a quello mostrato da pazienti con alessia pura senza agrafia o word blindness. Nel corso del ventesimo secolo, tuttavia, l'idea di una base visiva del disturbo evolutivo viene progressivamente messa da parte a favore di interpretazioni che enfatizzano la perturbazione di processi centrali di tipo fonologico e/o lessicale. Viene qui proposto che l'intuizione di Hinshelwood di una continuità tra disturbi evolutivi e word blindness debba essere riconsiderata alla luce sia di dati comportamentali sia di recenti studi di neuroimmagine funzionale. PAROLE CHIAVE: Dislessia acquisita; Dislessia evolutiva; Disgarfia acquisita; Alessia pura; James Hinshelwood.

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2015

The autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent a group of clinical conditions characterized by abn... more The autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent a group of clinical conditions characterized by abnormal communication, impaired socialization and restricted activities and interests. These conditions can be associated to varying degrees of cognitive disabilities. The cognitive profile of individuals with ASD is complex with areas of strength in visuo-spatial, sensory-motor and memory abilities and areas of weakness in executive functions, attention, abstract reasoning, formation

International Journal of Neuroscience, 1990

Shape, size and relative position in space perception were tested in 17 right brain damaged (RBD)... more Shape, size and relative position in space perception were tested in 17 right brain damaged (RBD) patients with neglect symptoms, 10 RBD patients without neglect and 11 controls. Simultaneous pair comparison task in free vision was used. Two arrangements of the visual display were used: side by side and top-bottom. Neglect patients' performance was comparable to RBD and controls in the shape and size test, but was below the other groups in the relative space position test. The selective failure of neglect patients in the position task did not depend on the spatial arrangement of the visual display, which may indicate a general perceptual deficit, rather than a deficit restricted to the neglect hemifield.