Annual Report
INCT ECCE – Context and Goals
The National Institute of Science and Technology on Behavior, Cognition, and Teaching is an expansion of the Nucleus of Studies of Behavior, Cognition, and Teaching that has organized, since 1996, the efforts of researchers at UFSCar, USP, UnB, UNESP, UFPA and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). The group first secured financial support in the PRONEX competition in 1997, support that was renewed in a new edition of PRONEX in 2003. This recent Institute incorporated additional researches from two other universities (UFMG and UNCISAL) and plans to further develop, integrate, and expand its existing network of laboratories.
This multi-institutional, multi-regional network focuses on behavioral science and technology addressing symbolic functioning and functional deficits, particularly in children (e.g., dysfunctional communication skills, delayed language development due to congenital deafness, failure to achieve basic competencies in reading and mathematics, etc.). Functional deficits in symbolic functioning represent a substantial challenge for affected individuals, their families, and their larger communities. Such deficits may result from neurological disorders, impoverished environments, and/or their interactions. Whatever the etiology, however, the primary approach to prevention and remediation of deficits in symbolic functioning is provision of behavior intervention, enhanced educational support, and other interventions to reduce their impact.
Our network currently integrates basic and applied research in a multi-institutional program that focuses on a number of aspects of symbolic functioning in children. In continuity to our previous work, the primary research objectives of the Institute’s activities are the scientific analysis of symbolic functions and their determinants, including (but not limited to):
(1) Identification of the necessary and sufficient conditions for development of age-appropriate symbolic functioning;
(2) Development and/or refinement of specific procedures for managing challenges of inter-individual variability in response to educational and/or therapeutic procedures, including those designed to improve function and also those to manage symbolic function deficits prosthetically;
(3) Investigation and development of methodology for establishing symbolic functioning in educational and therapeutic settings.
Other objectives of the Institute include mentoring to accelerate the professional development of young scientists within the program and disseminating the fruits of the work to the general public in a form that will be readily understandable for individuals without formal training in and/or experience with science and technology.