Sec of the trial and was followed by an inter-stimulus interval of 1000 msec. Therefore, digits were presented at a rate of 1 digit/1500 msec. The target signal probability was 0.28. Three performance measures were analyzed: correct detection (HIT), false alarms (errors of commission or false detection), and reaction time (RT). A Brazilian time-compressed speech test [45] assessed speech intelligibility using stimuli (words or sentences) compressed as described by Wilson et al. [46]. Briefly, short (ffi20 ms) segments of normal-rate speech were deleted digitally, with inter-deletion segments varied in duration jir.2010.0097 to achieve the desired compression ratio. This test has been promoted as a method for assessing temporal acuity in relation to speech intelligibility [47]. In the present study, a list of 50 monosyllabic words with time compression of 70 was applied. The words were presented using a laptop computer (Windows 7 operating system, DirectSound driver) and Trust HS4100 USB headphones. Performance was analyzed according to the percentage of correctly identified words. Far-transfer measures. The phonological awareness test was adapted from a previously reported phonological awareness test [48]. This test includes 6 tasks that occur at the syllable level (syllabic synthesis, syllabic segmentation, syllabic manipulation, syllabic transposition,PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0135422 August 12,5 /Generalization of Auditory and Cognitive Learning in Childrenrhyme and alliteration), and 4 tasks that occur at the phoneme level (phonemic synthesis, phonemic segmentation, phonemic manipulation and phonemic transposition). The performance was analyzed according to the percentage of correct items (five items per task). The reading test of single words/adaptation [49] consists of 30 words that vary according to regularity (regular and irregular words), lexicality (real words and nonsense words), length (short and long stimuli), and familiarity (frequent and non-frequent words). The stimuli were presented with E-Prime Professional software, and participants were asked to read all of the stimuli out loud. Performance was measured according to the percentage of correctly read words. All types of errors were considered as a mistake, such as omissions, substitutions, inversions, word stress, etc.; even refusal to read a specific word.TrainingThe training consisted of twelve 45-minute sessions Enzastaurin custom synthesis administered once per jir.2010.0097 to achieve the desired compression ratio. This test has been promoted as a method for assessing temporal acuity in relation to speech intelligibility [47]. In the present study, a list of 50 monosyllabic words with time compression of 70 was applied. The words were presented using a laptop computer (Windows 7 operating system, DirectSound driver) and Trust HS4100 USB headphones. Performance was analyzed according to the percentage of correctly identified words. Far-transfer measures. The phonological awareness test was adapted from a previously reported phonological awareness test [48]. This test includes 6 tasks that occur at the syllable level (syllabic synthesis, syllabic segmentation, syllabic manipulation, syllabic transposition,PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0135422 August 12,5 /Generalization of Auditory and Cognitive Learning in Childrenrhyme and alliteration), and 4 tasks that occur at the phoneme level (phonemic synthesis, phonemic segmentation, phonemic manipulation and phonemic transposition). The performance was analyzed according to the percentage of correct items (five items per task). The reading test of single words/adaptation [49] consists of 30 words that vary according to regularity (regular and irregular words), lexicality (real words and nonsense words), length (short and long stimuli), and familiarity (frequent and non-frequent words). The stimuli were presented with E-Prime Professional software, and participants were asked to read all of the stimuli out loud. Performance was measured according to the percentage of correctly read words. All types of errors were considered as a mistake, such as omissions, substitutions, inversions, word stress, etc.; even refusal to read a specific word.TrainingThe training consisted of twelve 45-minute sessions administered once per journal.pone.0158910 week for approximately nine total hours of training. The sessions were performed in groups of approximately 12 children, using laptop computers and headphones, in the multimedia room of the school. The researcher remained with the participants throughout the experiment to evaluate their performance and provide rewards at the end of each session. Details regarding each of the training sessions are provided below. Further details are in the S1 Appendix. Attention training. The attention training included a variety of tasks involving auditory and visual reaction times and sustained, divided and selective attention. The training was performed with headphones connected to a computer at a volume level that was comfortable for the child and delivered using a series of commercial and publicly available Brazilian computerized training games (“Escuta Ativa” and “Pedro no Acampamento”) and the “cognitivefun.net” website. For example, in the sustained attention task, the children were instructed to focus and maintain attention on a series of visual st.