CO-SKILLS PROGRAMS (version 5.1)

(Pépin & Loranger, 2007)

Visual Sustained Attention	Auditory Sustained Attention	Divided Attention	Visual Memory	Figural Memory
Pattern Memory	Visual Verbal Memory	Letters-Syllables-Words	Reading-Decoding	Pictograms
Spelling	Anagrams	Classification	Series Completion	Analogies
Visual Tracking	Hand-Eye Coordination	Perceptual Speed	Field Independence	Shape Recognition
Puzzles	Spatial Orientation	Labyrinths	Spatial Relations	Spatial Visualisation
Visual Perspective	Arithmetic	Strategies

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Equipment required          Cost of programs

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Cognitive skill training is at the core of the CO-SKILLS programs. The tasks are ordered in difficulty to situate the client within his/her zone of development and to offer challenges appropriate to his/her level. It is within the context of sustained practice that learning conditions are maximized. The CO-SKILLS programs thus target different skills that can be subject to training. However, the tasks often call upon several skills simultaneously. For example, attention is omni present in all tasks. Table 1 presents the twenty-eight programs of the version 5.0 in association with the principal cognitive variable categories. Within each category, the programs generally involving easier exercises precede those that are more demanding. For example, the Reading-Decoding program presents a content that is easier than that of Anagrams. The Spatial Visualisation exercises are more difficult than the exercises from the Spatial Orientation program. In Table 1, the programs appear according to their level of difficulty within the principal cognitive skill categories. This order is based on the first levels of each program. This means that the final level of a program that is considered to be easier than the next program may be more difficult than the final level of a program that is considered to be easier. This table is only a guideline. For certain clients, the order may slightly vary.

Table 1. CO-SKILLS programs according to their principal associated cognitive variables

Characteristics common to CO-SKILLS programs

Training according to the client’s rhythm

Since the beginning, CO-SKILLS programs have been interactive and have functioned according to an « adaptive » mode that enables the client to progress at his/her own rhythm. Each program automatically manages or adjusts the training’s progress according to the client’s performance.

Gradual Training

Each CO-SKILLS program has several levels of difficulty; certain programs are also subdivided into classes within which there are variable levels of difficulty. During a training session, one’s progress depends upon successes or failures. Accordingly, when the client accumulates a certain number of consecutive successes, the program automatically increases the difficulty level. However, if the client does not manifest mastery over the content, the program continues to offer exercises from the same difficulty level.

Data Recording

The CO-SKILLS programs record the client’s performance during each training session. This means that at a later session with the program, the client continues his/her exercises at the level he/she previously reached. The supervisor/clinician may use the CO-SKILLS manager environment to easily monitor the client’s progress.

The Exams

The exams included in most CO-SKILLS programs assess the client’s mastery of the program’s contents. They are not normative tests, but assessment tools that may be used for two main purposes: 1) assess the relevance of exercising on this program; 2) assess a client’s progress following training (pre- et post-tests).

Each exam is generally constructed from a sample of items representative of the tasks involved in each program. The result is expressed as a percentage of mastery of the program’s content.

The exams were thus solely created according to the CO-SKILLS programs’ contents. The result obtained by a client has no other signification than an indicator of his or her level of performance in regards to the program’s contents. The result cannot be interpreted as a general measure of skills, nor be used for purposes other than training with CO-SKILLS programs. As the programs have different difficulty levels, each result is independent from the other and cannot be compared directly. Therefore, a score of 50% on Spatial Visualisation and a score of 50% on Spatial Orientation does not mean that the clients performances are equivalent with regards to the cognitive skills that these programs share; it means that master of each program’s contents is 50 %.

What's new in version 5!

The environment

Version 5.0 of CO-SKILLS proposes a new environment that integrates familiar scenes that facilitate understanding of potential real-life contexts in which the skills could be called upon. They also increase the pleasantness of the task. A character acting as a mentor joins the screen in order to present the instructions and feedback. These instructions and feedback are presented with auditory and visual support.

Here is an example of positive :

Three New Programs : Auditory Sustained Attention, Puzzles and Visual Perspective

Three new CO-SKILLS programs have been added to the previous version. A sustained attention program in auditory mode has been created (based upon the visual mode program): Auditory Sustained Attention. As for the visual mode, Puzzles and Visual Perspective complete the program category targeting visuo-spatial skills. The details of these three new programs are provided in the Program Description section.

Modification and Improvement of Existing Programs

Programs from the previous version have been revised. For certain programs, this revision led to more significant changes. This is notably the case for programs targeting visuo-spatial skills (i.e. Spatial Relations, Orientation, Shape Recognition, and Field Independence), to which levels were added, thus creating a wider range of difficulty. In certain cases, easier levels were created, and in other cases, higher difficulty levels were added. Moreover, the programs were carefully revised and new classes were created. For example, the Visual Sustained Attention program now has three, rather than two classes: Increasing, Decreasing and Series.

Table 2 presents the program classes and number of levels. An asterisk indicates programs that have been significantly modified. Two asterisks indicate new programs/classes.

Table 2. Program classes and difficulty levels

Program	Class	Levels		Program	Class	Levels
Visual Sustained Attention*	1. Increasing	14		Anagrams	Sole	11
	2. Decreasing	14		Classification	1. Images-Items	9
	3. Series	8			2. Images-Categories	38
Auditory Sustained Attention**	1. Increasing	14			3. Words-Items	10
	2. Decreasing	14			4. Words-Categories	48
	3. Series	8		Series Completion	1. Letters	18
Divided Attention	Sole	16			2. Numbers	20
Visual Memory	1. Numbers	21			3. Symbols	14
	2. Letters	24		Analogies	Sole	26
	3. Figures	24		Visual Tracking	Sole	27
	4. Symbols	24		Hand-Eye Coordination	Sole	21
Figural Memory	1. Themes	6		Perceptual Speed*	1. Letters	35
	2. Categories	6			2. Symbols	33
	3. Related Themes	6		Field Independence*	Sole	20
Pattern Memory	Sole	29		Shape Recognition*	Sole	18
Visual Verbal Memory	1. Text	4		Puzzles**	1. With Model	20
	2. Categories	6			2. Without Model	20
	3. Themes	6			3. Identification	20
	4. Incomplete Sentences	6		Spatial Orientation*	Sole	20
	5. Related Themes	6		Labyrinths	Sole	6
Letters-Syllables-Words	Sole	48		Spatial Relations*	Sole	22
Reading-Decoding	Sole	24		Spatial Visualisation	Sole	23
Pictograms	1. Images	61		Visual Perspective**	Sole	14
	2. Words	61		Arithmetic	Sole	114
Spelling	Sole	85		Strategies	Sole	5

*Modification to the number of levels or addition of items.
**New programs included in version 5.

Assessment of cognitive skills for monitoring and measuring the intervention’s effectiveness

Cognitive skill assessment is essential before applying a cognitive training program (Gontkovsky et al., 2002). The administration of cognitive skill tests or any other neuropsychological tests in pre- and post-treatment enable one to establish the client’s base-line performance, a rigorous monitoring of progress, as well as evaluation of the cognitive training’s effectiveness. It is important that the evaluator respects the following criteria to guide his/her choice of exercises: 1) do not use evaluation material to conduct cognitive training; 2) favour measurement instruments that target the same cognitive variables already targeted by the CO-SKILLS programs being used; 3) use evaluation tools for which good psychometric properties have been demonstrated; 4) use evaluation tools for which the evaluator is qualified to administer and interpret.

Equipment required: A PC or PC compatible microcomputer with a Pentium III processor, 128 M octets of live memory, a graphics card with at least 8 M octets of memory, a colour screen, a standard CD ROM drive, a hard drive with at least 150 M octets of free space, Windows software (2000 or more recent), a computer mouse  or joystick, a sound card and two speakers (or earphones), and a printer.