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Comparing cognitive performance in illiterate and literate children

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Abstract

While it is known that the process of becoming literate begins in early childhood and usually involves several years of schooling, research related to cognitive characteristics has been done mostly on illiterate adults, and information concerning illiterate children is therefore limited. The aim of the present study, involving 21 illiterate and 22 literate Mexican children aged 6 to 13, was to investigate the effects of literacy on neuropsychological characteristics during childhood. The children’s performance on 16 cognitive domains of the Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil (ENI, Child Neuropsychological Assessment) was examined in three mixed within- and between-groups profile analyses. The results suggest that the effect of literacy observed in adults is already evident in children in almost every task analysed. Moreover, the fact that an age effect was detected for the calculation abilities suggests that maths learning is school- and environment-dependent.

Resumé

Comparaison des performances cognitives des enfants alphabétisés et analphabètes – S’il est notoire que le processus d’alphabétisation est amorcé dans la petite enfance et s’accomplit en règle générale durant sept ans de scolarité, les études sur les caractéristiques cognitives portent pour la plupart sur les adultes illettrés, et les données concernant les enfants analphabètes sont par conséquent limitées. La présente étude, qui a impliqué 21 enfants mexicains illettrés et 22 lettrés, âgés de 6 à 13 ans, visait à étudier les effets de l’alphabétisation sur les caractéristiques neuropsychologiques pendant l’enfance. Les performances des enfants dans les 16 domaines cognitifs de l’Évaluation neuropsychologique infantile (Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil, ENI) ont été examinées dans trois analyses de profil croisées intergroupes et entre les groupes. Les résultats laissent penser que l’effet de l’alphabétisation observé chez les adultes est déjà manifeste chez les enfants dans presque toutes les tâches analysées. En outre, un effet d’âge détecté dans les capacités de calcul suggère que l’apprentissage des mathématiques dépend de l’établissement scolaire et de l’environnement.

Zusammenfassung

Vergleich der kognitiven Leistungen von analphabetischen und alphabetisierten Kindern – Es ist zwar bekannt, dass der Alphabetisierungsprozess in der frühen Kindheit beginnt und normalerweise mehrere Schuljahre dauert, doch beschäftigt sich die Kognitionsforschung bislang überwiegend mit analphabetischen Erwachsenen, sodass die Informationen über analphabetische Kinder begrenzt sind. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie an 21 analphabetischen und 22 alphabetisierten mexikanischen Kindern zwischen 6 und 13 Jahren war die Untersuchung der neuropsychologischen Effekte der Alphabetisierung im Kindesalter. Die Leistungen der Kinder in 16 kognitiven Bereichen der Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil (ENI, Neuropsychologische Evaluation von Kindern) wurden in drei gemischten Profilanalysen, jeweils innerhalb einer Gruppe und zwischen verschiedenen Gruppen, untersucht. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass bei fast jeder analysierten Aufgabe die bei Erwachsenen beobachtete Wirkung der Alphabetisierung auch schon bei Kindern erkennbar ist. Darüber hinaus führt die Feststellung eines Alterseffekts für die Rechenfähigkeiten zu der Annahme, dass die Lernerfolge in Mathematik schul- und umgebungsabhängig sind.

Resumen

Comparación del rendimiento cognitivo en niños analfabetos y niños alfabetizados – Si bien se sabe que el proceso de alfabetización comienza en la temprana infancia y normalmente implica varios años de formación escolar, las investigaciones relacionadas con características cognitivas se realizaron en su mayor parte sobre adultos analfabetos, por lo cual la información concerniente a niños analfabetos es limitada. El objetivo de este estudio, realizado en niños mexicanos de 6 a 13 años de edad, 21 de ellos analfabetos y 22 alfabetizados, consistió en investigar los efectos de la alfabetización sobre las características neuropsicológicas durante la infancia. El rendimiento de los niños sobre 16 áreas congnitivas de la Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil (ENI) se examinó en tres análisis de perfiles de grupos mixtos, intragrupales e intergrupales. Los resultados sugieren que los efectos de la alfabetización observados en adultos ya se evidencian en los niños, en casi todas las tareas analizadas. Además, el hecho de que se haya detectado un efecto de la edad para las habilidades de cálculo indica que el aprendizaje de matemáticas depende de la escuela y también del entorno.

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Notes

  1. Phonological awareness subsumes awareness of phonological strings, awareness of syllables, onset-rime awareness and phoneme awareness. The latter is related to the awareness of the letter sounds and is called more specifically phonemic awareness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Francisco de Quevedo 180, 44130, Guadalajara, Jal, Mexico

    Esmeralda Matute

  2. Department of Education, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico

    Teresita Montiel

  3. Department of Psychology, Universidad del Valle de Atemajac, Guadalajara, Mexico

    Noemí Pinto

  4. Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

    Monica Rosselli

  5. Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Alfredo Ardila

  6. Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico

    Daniel Zarabozo

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  1. Esmeralda Matute
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  2. Teresita Montiel
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  3. Noemí Pinto
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  4. Monica Rosselli
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  5. Alfredo Ardila
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  6. Daniel Zarabozo
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Correspondence to Esmeralda Matute.

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Matute, E., Montiel, T., Pinto, N. et al. Comparing cognitive performance in illiterate and literate children. Int Rev Educ 58, 109–127 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-012-9273-9

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