Cross-sequential analysis of genetic influences on cognitive ability in the swedish adoption/twin study of aging

Abstract

Cross-sequential methods of analysis were applied to cognitive data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging. Thirteen measures of cognitive ability assessing four major domains (verbal, spatial, memory, and perceptual speed) were collected at two times of measurement separated by a three-year interval. Data were available from 41 pairs of monozygotic twins reared apart (MZA), 54 pairs of monozygotic twins reared together (MZT), 86 pairs of dizygotic twins reared apart (DZA), and 73 pairs of dizygotic twins reared together (DZT) ranging in age from 41 to 84 years. Cross-sectional differences and longitudinal changes in total variance and sources of variance were examined. With a few exceptions, both cross-sectional and longitudinal stability were found for total variance. In addition, few cross-sectional differences and longitudinal changes were found for genetic and environmental components of variance.     

Inter- and intra-cultural variation in learning-through-participation among Hadza and BaYaka forager children and adolescents from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo

We examined cross-cultural variation in children’s learning-through-participation in economic work in two forager societies; the Hadza of Tanzania and the BaYaka of the Republic of Congo. We used observational data from 46 Hadza (41% female) and 65 BaYaka (48% female) children and adolescents between the ages of 3 and 18; interview data from 73 Hadza (49% female) and 52 BaYaka (56% female) adults; and ethnographic observations from both populations. Results showed that by providing tools, assigning chores, and foraging with children, Hadza and BaYaka adults provided opportunities for autonomous learning through facilitating participation. Furthermore, although both Hadza and BaYaka children foraged alongside adults when they could be of help, Hadza children were more likely than BaYaka children to forage independently, and BaYaka children were more likely than Hadza children to participate in domestic tasks. We argue that these strategies provided children with opportunities to learn while contributing economically.

Nous avons examiné les variations interculturelles dans l’apprentissage des enfants dans le contexte de leur participation à des travaux économiques dans deux sociétés de chasseurs-cueilleurs; les Hadza de Tanzanie et les BaYaka du Congo. Nous avons utilisé les données d’observation de 46 enfants et adolescents Hadza (41% femmes) et 65 BaYaka (48% femmes) âgés de 3 à 18 ans, celles d’interviews de 73 adultes Hadza (49% femmes) et de 52 adultes BaYaka (56% femmes), ainsi que des observations ethnographiques sur ces deux groupes. Les résultats montrent qu’en leur fournissant des outils, en leur assignant des tâches et en chassant et en cueillant avec les enfants, les adultes Hadza et BaYaka leur offrent des possibilités d’apprentissage autonome tout en facilitant leur participation. En outre, alors que les enfants Hadza et BaYaka chassent et cueillent aux côtés des adultes quand ils peuvent, les enfants Hadza sont plus susceptibles que les enfants BaYaka de recourir à la chasse et à la cueillette. Ces derniers sont aussi plus susceptibles que les enfants Hadza de participer aux tâches domestiques. Nous en concluons que ces stratégies fournissent aux enfants des opportunités d’apprentissage tout en contribuant, parallèlement, aux ressources économiques de leur groupe.     

Whitehead's doctrine of objectification and Yogācāra Buddhism's theory of the three natures

IntroductionNa¯ga¯rjuna, the most well-known Buddhist thinker after the Buddha himself, points out in his famous Mu¯lamadhyamakaka¯rika¯ that ‘The Buddha's teachings of the Dharma is based on the two truths: a truth of worldly conventions and an ultimate truth’ (XXIV:8). This doctrine of the two truths does indeed lie at the very heart of Buddhism. More particularly, the phenomenological and soteriological discourses in the Ma¯dhyamika tradition revolve around ideas concerning the two truths. Central to the doctrine is the concept that all phenomena possess dual characteristics—conventional and ultimate. The former, defined as the mode of phenomenal appearance, is the conventional truth; while the latter, defined as the ultimate mode of being, is the ultimate truth. This paper examines the ways in which these two truths are related from the Tibetan Pra¯sangika Ma¯dhyamika perspective, and argues that there are two radically distinct Tibetan ways of reading and interpreting the issues surrounding them. It does so by comparing the ccounts of Tsong khapa Blo bzang Grags pa (hereafter Tsong khapa, 1357–1423 A.D.) and Go rampa bSod nams Senge's (hereafter Go rampa 1429-1489 A.D.), and focuses on the way in which the two truths are related. It will be argued that, for Tsong khapa, the two truths constitute a ‘single ontological identity’ (ngo bo gcig) with ‘different conceptual identities’ (ldog pa tha dad), whereas for Go rampa, the truths are separate in a way that is ‘incompatible with their unity’ (gcig pa bkag pa'i tha dad) or identity.     

JEWISH NATIONALISM AND THE ENCYCLOPAEDIC IMAGINATION

This article examines Ahad Ha'am's attempt to create a Hebrew compendium of Jewish knowledge, Otsar hayahadut belashon'ivrit (A Treasury of Judaism in the Hebrew Language), at the end of the nineteenth century. Although his proposal was never realized, it represents an important moment in the history of Jewish nationalism, both because of the influence it exerted on Hebrew writers and scholars active in the Zionist movement and, eventually, on the political culture of the yishuv. Ahad Ha'am's effort to publish a Hebrew encyclopedia reveals his faith in the power of books to spark a national revival; he believed that the entire Jewish heritage could be contained within one authoritative book or set of books, and that such a project had the power to rehabilitate and preserve a weak, divided and scattered people, and to provide it with a unified, homogenous national identity. His vision was later modified and transformed by the Hebrew poet Hayim Nahman Bialik and survived in altered form as the primary impulse behind Bialik's ambitious attempt to gather, translate and edit the classical works of Judaism into modern anthologies, and after Bialik's death in 1934 as one of the organizing principals of the Zionist movement during the period of the British Mandate.     

The dream of dreams

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between the therapist's use of the dream and the patient's use of the dream, both inside and outside the formal therapeutic setting.     

The expert advantage in dynamic pattern recall persists across both attended and unattended display elements

We examined how differences in attention influence how expert and novice basketball players encode into memory the specific structural information contained within patterns of play from their sport. Our participants were primed during a typical recall task to focus attention on either attacking or defending player formations before being asked to recall the attended or unattended portion of the pattern. Adherence to the instructional set was confirmed through an analysis of gaze distributions. Recall performance was superior for the experts relative to the novices across both the attended and unattended attacking and defensive pattern structures. Expert recall of attacker positions was unchanged with and without attention, whereas recall accuracy for the positions of defenders diminished without attention, as did the novices’ recall of both attack and defense formations. The findings suggest that experienced performers are better than novices at encoding the elements from a complex and dynamic pattern in the absence of focused attention, with this advantage being especially evident in relation to the recall of attacking structure. Some revision of long-term memory theories of expertise will be necessary to accommodate these findings.     

Routine cognitive errors: A trait-like predictor of individual differences in anxiety and distress

Five studies (N=361) sought to model a class of errors—namely, those in routine tasks—that several literatures have suggested may predispose individuals to higher levels of emotional distress. Individual differences in error frequency were assessed in choice reaction-time tasks of a routine cognitive type. In Study 1, it was found that tendencies toward error in such tasks exhibit trait-like stability over time. In Study 3, it was found that tendencies toward error exhibit trait-like consistency across different tasks. Higher error frequency, in turn, predicted higher levels of negative affect, general distress symptoms, displayed levels of negative emotion during an interview, and momentary experiences of negative emotion in daily life (Studies 2–5). In all cases, such predictive relations remained significant with individual differences in neuroticism controlled. The results thus converge on the idea that error frequency in simple cognitive tasks is a significant and consequential predictor of emotional distress in everyday life. The results are novel, but discussed within the context of the wider literatures that informed them.     

High intelligence prevents the negative impact of anxiety on working memory

Using a large sample and the confirmatory factor analysis, the study investigated the relationships between anxiety, working memory (WM) and (fluid) intelligence. The study showed that the negative impact of anxiety on WM functioning diminishes with increasing intelligence, and that anxiety can significantly affect WM only in people below average intelligence. This effect could not be fully explained by the sheer differences in WM capacity (WMC), suggesting the importance of higher-level cognition in coping with anxiety. Although intelligence moderated the impact of anxiety on WM, it was only weakly related to anxiety. In contrast to previous studies, anxiety explained the substantial amount of WMC variance (17.8%) in less intelligent participants, but none of the variance in more intelligent ones. These results can be explained in terms of either increased motivation of intelligent but anxious people to cope with a WM task, or their ability to compensate decrements in WM.