Résultat de la recherche
The contribution of discursive and cognitive factors in referential choices made by elderly people during a narrative task
Theory of mind and cognitive processes in aging and Alzheimer type dementia: a systematic review
Objectives: Theory of mind (ToM) performance in aging and dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) has been a growing interest of researchers and recently, theoretical trends in ToM development have led to a focus on determining the cognitive skills involved in ToM performance. The aim of the present review is to answer three main questions: How is ToM assessed in aging and DAT? How does ToM performance evolve in aging and DAT? Do cognitive processes influence ToM performance in aging and DAT?
Method: A systematic review was conducted to provide a targeted overview of recent studies relating ToM performance with cognitive processes in aging and DAT.
Results: Results suggest a decrease in ToM performance, more pronounced in complex ToM tasks. Moreover, the review points up the strong involvement of executive functions, especially inhibition, and reasoning skills in ToM task achievement.
Conclusion: Current data suggest that the structure of ToM tasks itself could lead to poor performance, especially in populations with reduced cognitive abilities.
Mental Time Travel and Time Reference Difficulties in Alzheimer's Disease: Are they related? A systematic review
Mental time travel and language enable us to go back and forth in time and to organizeand express our personal experiences through time reference. People with Alzheimer’sdisease have both mental time travel and time reference impairments, which can greatlyimpact their daily communication. Currently, little is known about the potential relationshipbetween time conceptualization (i.e., mental time travel) and time reference difficulties inthis disease. A systematic review of the literature was performed to determine if this linkhad already been investigated. Only three articles integrated both time conceptualizationand time reference measures. However, the link between the two was not systematicallyanalyzed and interpreted. This review highlights the lack of research addressing thequestion of the influence of time conceptualization impairments in Alzheimer’s disease onother cognitive domains, and especially language
Referential adjustment during discourse production in Alzheimer's disease
Several studies have shown that people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) tend to use more pronouns than healthy aged adults when referring to entities during discourse. This referential behavior has been associated with the decrease of cognitive abilities, such as lexical retrieval difficulties or reduced abilities in working memory. However, the influence of certain important discourse factors on the referential choices made by people with AD has yet to be established. This study examines referential choices made at three discourse stages during narrative discourse (the introduction of a referent, the maintaining of the referent in focus, and the shift from one referent in focus to another). These referential choices are examined in increasingly complex referential contexts. In addition, this study investigates the relationships between referential choices and various cognitive abilities. To do so, the narrative discourses of 21 people with AD and 21 healthy adults were elicited using a newly developed storytelling in sequence task. The analyses focused on the production of three major referential expressions (indefinite expressions, definite expressions and pronouns) which are expected to vary according to discourse stage and the referential complexity of the stories. The results show that AD participants produce significantly fewer of the referential expressions expected at the introduction and shift stages than healthy aged adults produce. Nevertheless, the variation in the categories of referential expressions produced by the AD participants between the discourse stages is similar to that produced by the healthy aged adults, suggesting a preserved sensitivity to the factors manipulated in the task (i.e., discourse stages and referential complexity). This study also highlights the fact that different cognitive competences, especially executive abilities, are greatly involved in referential choices. The results add further evidence that referential choices rely on a variety of cognitive skills, depending on the discourse context in which they are made.