Computer-Assisted Reading and Spelling Intervention with Graphogame Fluent Portuguese
Learning to master reading and spelling can be assisted by communication technologies, ever more common among children. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a new science-based computer-assisted intervention could improve reading and spelling in 2nd graders at risk to fail literacy acquisition. Participants were 7-year-old monolingual children identified as having reading difficulties in their native language, Portuguese. Following neurocognitive assessment, the children were divided into two matched groups (N = 15 × 2), one to be trained with Graphogame Fluent Portuguese that we developed (target intervention) and the other with an analogous Graphogame in mathematics (control i…
Effects of the Portuguese Graphogame on reading, spelling, and phonological awareness in second graders struggling to read
The interest in computer-assisted interventions to promote literacy has increased over the years. In this study, we developed the Portuguese version of the GraphoGame Fluent and tested its effects on reading, spelling, and phonological awareness. Second graders struggling to read were randomly assigned to two groups: GraphoGame Fluent group (n = 15), which received a computer-assisted remedial reading intervention, or GraphoGame Math group (n = 15), which received a computer-assisted numeracy intervention. An additional, non-playing group, composed by second graders without reading difficulties, was formed (business-as-usual group, n = 15). Results showed clear benefits of GraphoGame on spe…
Music and Emotions in the Brain: Familiarity Matters
The importance of music in our daily life has given rise to an increased number of studies addressing the brain regions involved in its appreciation. Some of these studies controlled only for the familiarity of the stimuli, while others relied on pleasantness ratings, and others still on musical preferences. With a listening test and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, we wished to clarify the role of familiarity in the brain correlates of music appreciation by controlling, in the same study, for both familiarity and musical preferences. First, we conducted a listening test, in which participants rated the familiarity and liking of song excerpts from the pop/rock repe…