Examinando por Autor "Lechuga, M. Teresa"
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Ítem A specific benefit of retrieval-based concept mapping to enhance learning from texts(Springer Link, 2019) Ortega-Tudela, Juana M.; Lechuga, M. Teresa; Gómez-Ariza, Carlos J.Research has shown that retrieval activities, that is, actively recalling previously studied information, may substantially contribute to learning from complex educational materials, sometimes more so than other more popular techniques such as rereading and elaborative study. In this context, recent studies (Blunt and Karpicke, J Educ Psychol 106:849–858, 2014) have reported that two different retrieval formats (free recall by writing down as many ideas as possible and creating a concept map in the absence of texts) are equally effective as learning tools. Given the benefits frequently attributed to concept mapping and the potential practical implications of this finding, we aimed to further examine the relative effectiveness of both retrieval-based activities. In Experiment 1, we conceptually replicated the main finding from Blunt and Karpicke’s study to show that the two formats may lead to similar learning outcomes. In Experiment 2, we coupled both retrieval formats but manipulated the order in which the activities were performed. Results revealed that retrieval-based concept mapping before free recall by means of paragraph writing resulted in better learning on a 2-week delayed test than performing the same activities the other way round. These findings contradict the general idea that it is retrieval itself, regardless of the activity it is embedded in, what promotes learning. From a more applied standpoint, our results join others from recent studies to show that combining different retrieval activities when dealing with educational materials might be particularly effective.Ítem Age-Related Differences in Creative Cognition: The Mediating Role of Executive Functions and Associative Processes(American Psychological Association, 2024) Peláez-Alfonso, José Luis; Pelegrina, Santiago; Lechuga, M. TeresaDivergent and convergent creativity may rely on associative and executive control processes. We examined whether age-related differences in both types of creativity are mediated by executive functions and associative processes. A total of 427 primary, secondary-school, and university students completed a battery of tasks measuring executive functioning (updating, inhibition and shifting), verbal fluency, and divergent (fluency, flexibility, and originality) and convergent creativity (remote-associative problems). The results confirmed that executive and associative processes accounted for age-related differences in divergent and convergent creativity, albeit to different degrees. Specifically, verbal fluency contributed to explaining age differences in both types of creativity, whereas updating and inhibition mediated age-related differences only in convergent creativity. These findings provide evidence for the differential contribution of executive and associative processes to age-differences in both types of creativity, and provide additional support for a dual-process view of creativity.Ítem Nearest transfer effects of working memory training: A comparison of two programs focused on working memory updating(Plos, 2019) Linares, Rocio; Borella, Erika; Lechuga, M. Teresa; Carretti, Barbara; Pelegrina, SantiagoThis study analyzed the mechanisms involved in possible transfer effects for two different working memory updating (WMU) training programs administered to young adults and based on two updating paradigms: n-back and arithmetical updating. The influence of practice distribution on transfer effects was also explored by including two training regimens: massed and spaced practice. Performance on different WMU tasks more or less structurally similar to the tasks used in the training was assessed to analyze the nearest transfer effects. Near and far transfer effects were tested using complex working memory (WM) and fluid intelligence tasks. The results showed that the WMU training produced gains in only some of the WMU tasks structurally similar to those used in the training, not in those lacking the same structure, or in WM or fluid intelligence tasks. These limited nearest transfer effects suggest that gains could be due to the acquisition of a specific strategy appropriate for the task during the training rather than to any improvement in the updating process per se. Performance did not differ depending on the training regimen.Ítem Normative data for 102 Spanish remote associate problems and age-related differences in performance(Sciendo, 2020) Peláez-Alfonso, José Luis; Pelegrina, Santiago; Lechuga, M. TeresaThe Remote Associates Test (RAT) is a measure developed by Mednick (1962) which is used to assess the convergent thinking component of creativity. This study presents a normative database in Spanish including 102 problems based on the RAT. Three sets of problems were built according to the type of between-word associations: semantic, compound, and two-word expressions. These problems were administered to a sample of 309 elementary, high-school, and university students. The results show good internal consistency as well as good convergent validity with insight problems, and discriminant validity using Guilford’s Alternative Uses Test. In addition, the results indicate age-related differences in the ability to solve the different types of problemsÍtem Retrieval-based concept mapping makes a difference as a retrieval practice activity: a study with high school students(frontiersin.org, 2024) Lechuga, M. Teresa; Ortega-Tudela, Juana M.; Gómez-Ariza, Carlos J.Introduction: While specific sequences of retrieval-based activities have been shown to have a powerful effect on learning, no previous study has examined this issue in children or adolescents. Here, we aimed to determine whether the benefit of concept mapping as an initial retrieval activity observed previously with college students in a lab setting may also be found in younger and less experienced students in a more naturalistic school setting. Methods: After a short training in concept mapping, participants (N = 60) read an educational text and then engaged in a sequence of two learning activities that required them to retrieve relevant ideas from the text. One of the activities involved free recall by writing down as many ideas as possible and the other involved creating a concept map, both of them in the absence of educational texts. Critically, we manipulated the order in which the activities were performed. Results: A mediation analysis with success during retrieval practice as the mediator revealed both a direct effect of retrieval sequence and an indirect effect. Creating a concept map first and then freely recalling by writing paragraphs significantly improved performance on a 2-week delayed learning test, as compared to performing the same activities in the inverse order, even when doing concept mapping first led to lower success rates during practice. Discussion: These results support the idea that concept learning from instructional texts can be modulated by the sequence of retrieval activities performed and point to the educational value of retrieval-based concept mapping as a first learning activity within a series across different learners and educational settings.Ítem Role of executive functions in the relations of state‐and trait‐math anxiety with math performance(The New York Academy of Sciences, 2024) Pelegrina, Santiago; Martín‐Puga, M. Eva; Lechuga, M. Teresa; Justicia‐Galiano, M. José; Linares, RocíoThe detrimental effect of math anxiety on math performance is thought to be mediated by executive functions. Previous studies have primarily focused on trait-math anxiety rather than state-math anxiety and have typically examined a single executive function rather than comprehensively evaluating all of them. Here, we used a structural equation modeling approach to concurrently determine the potential mediating roles of different executive functions (i.e., inhibition, switching, and updating) in the relationships between both state- and trait-math anxiety and math performance. A battery of computer-based tasks and questionnaires were administered to 205 university students. Two relevant results emerged. First, confirmatory factor analysis suggests that math anxiety encompassed both trait and state dimensions and, although they share substantial variance, trait-math anxiety predicted math performance over and above state-math anxiety. Second, working memory updating was the only executive function that mediated the relationship between math anxiety and math performance; neither inhibition nor switching played mediating roles. This calls into question whether some general proposals about the relationship between anxiety and executive functions can be extended specifically to math anxiety. We also raise the possibility that working memory updating or general cognitive difficulties might precede individual differences in math anxiety.Ítem Testing the Effectiveness of Retrieval-Based Learning in Naturalistic School Settings(Sage Journals, 2021) Ortega-Tudela, Juana M.; Lechuga, M. Teresa; Bermúdez-Sierra, Miriam; Gómez-Ariza, Carlos J.While the learning benefits of retrieval activities have been clearly demonstrated in laboratory settings, evidence on their usefulness in naturalistic school settings is still scant. The goal of the present studies was to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of retrieval-based learning in children (fourth and sixth grades) when school teachers themselves design and implement retrieval activities relating to genuine curriculum contents. Three studies were conducted in a public elementary school with fourth and sixth graders and their teachers. Two of the studies involved mathematics and one dealt with social sciences. Teachers used learning activities that required students to recall part of previously taught concepts, while different concepts in the same unit were worked through with those learning activities that were normally used by each teacher. Two out of three studies revealed that, relative to business-as-usual learning activities, performing retrieval activities during classes led to better performance in the assessments at the end of the lessons. Overall, our finding provides preliminary evidence that retrieval activities can enhance learning in elementary school children when they are devised by teachers in the exercise of their professional duties. These results have important practical implications and suggest that, if teachers are aware of the value of retrieval activities in fostering meaningful learning, these activities could be successfully embedded in their daily duties even when considering the constraints imposed by school reality.Ítem Training working memory updating in young adults(Springer, 2018) Linares, Rocío; Borella, Erika; Lechuga, M. Teresa; Carretti, Barbara; Pelegrina, SantiagoWorking memory updating (WMU) is a core mechanism in the human mental architecture and a Good predictor of a wide range of cognitive processes. This study analyzed the benefits of two different WMU training procedures, near transfer effects on a working memory measure, and far transfer effects on nonverbal reasoning. Maintenance of any benefits a month later was also assessed. Participants were randomly assigned to: an adaptive training group that performed two numerical WMU tasks during four sessions; a non-adaptive training group that performed the same tasks but on a constant and less demanding level of difficulty; or an active control group that performed other tasks unrelated with working memory. After the training, all three groups showed improvements in most of the tasks, and these benefits were maintained a month later. The gain in one of the two WMU measures was larger for the adaptive and non-adaptive groups than for the control group. This specific gain in a task similar to the one trained would indicate the use of a better strategy for performing the task. Besides this nearest transfer effect, no other transfer effects were found. The adaptability of the training procedure did not produce greater improvements. These results are discussed in terms of the training procedure and the feasibility of training WMU.