An ecological approach to cognitive enhancement: Complex motor training

Cognitive training has received a lot of attention recently, yielding findings that can be conflicting and controversial. In this paper, we present a novel approach to cognitive training based on complex motor activities. In a randomized controlled design, participants were assigned to one of three conditions: aerobic exercise, working memory training or designed sport — an intervention specifically tailored to include both physical and cognitive demands. After training for eight weeks, the designed sport group showed the largest gains in all cognitive measures, illustrating the efficacy of complex motor activities to enhance cognition. Designed sport training also revealed impressive health benefits, namely decreased heart rate and blood pressure. In this period of skepticism over the efficacy of computerized cognitive training, we discuss the potential of ecological interventions targeting both cognition and physical fitness, and propose some possible applications.     

The Voice of Ambiguity: Simone de Beauvoir's Literary and Phenomenological Echoes

In this essay we investigate several moments in Simone de Beauvoir's philosophical and literary texts in which she refers to echoes and echoing. We notice that echoes help Beauvoir to figure and amplify the ethical character of her concept of ambiguity, which is so central to her thought. We argue that, for Beauvoir, literature has privileged access to the ambiguity of existence and therefore maintains a special status in exposing us to alterity and bringing us face to face with ethical responsibility. Considering her literary portrayals of echoing helps to explain why, despite her life‐long philosophical engagement, Beauvoir preferred not to call herself a philosopher. Finally, Beauvoir's phenomenological insight is that in order to carry ethical resonance, the form of a written work must mirror the fundamentally ambiguous or echolalic ontological structure of human existence.     

Motive Arousal Without Pictures? An Experimental Validation of a Hybrid Implicit Motive Test

Pictures are widely used as stimuli in implicit motive tests. Hybrid forms of such tests present pictures and declarative statements underneath pictures. Some authors have argued that explicitly declaring agreement with motive-related statements presented underneath pictures might shift the validity of such tests from capturing less implicit motives to more explicit motives. If that is the case, pictures as elicitors of implicit motives might become less relevant. Adopting the views on validity presented by Borsboom, Mellenbergh, and van Heerden (2004 Borsboom, D., Mellenbergh, G. J., &; van Heerden, J. (2004). The concept of validity. Psychological Review, 111, 1061–1071. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.111.4.1061[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Bornstein (2011 Bornstein, R. F. (2011). Toward a process-focused model of test score validity: Improving psychological assessment in science and practice. Psychological Assessment, 23, 532–544. doi:10.1037/a0022402[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), as well as item generation theory, we investigated whether the availability of pictures in hybrid motive tests causally affects test scores. To this end, we administered the Multi-Motive Grid (MMG; Sokolowski, Schmalt, Langens, &; Puca, 2000 Sokolowski, K., Schmalt, H.-D., Langens, T. A., &; Puca, R. M. (2000). Assessing achievement, affiliation, and power motives all at once: The Multi-Motive-Grid (MMG). Journal of Personality Assessment, 74, 126–145. doi:10.1207/S15327752JPA740109[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), as an example of a hybrid motive test, either with or without pictures to 108 participants. Results revealed that the availability of pictures had no effect on 3 out of 6 test scores. Furthermore, eliminating pictures had only inconsistent effects on correlations with a test of explicit motives. We conclude that pictures might not unanimously elicit motives in implicit motive tests that use declarative statements as response options.     

Narrative Practices and Positive Aging: A Reflection about Life Celebration in a Group of Old Women

The main objective of this article is to address the impact of narrative practices in life celebration after the age of 80 and in the co-construction of a community-positive future. We share here an exploratory reflection about the narratives of a group of older women integrated in a community project. The Wednesday Tea Project (Chá das Quartas) has been ongoing for 4 years, and involves a group of old women experiencing high levels of loneliness and isolation in their small village in Portugal. The Wednesday Tea Project is based on positive psychology methodologies and consists of ritualized sessions that encourage participatory group dynamics. To describe how this project has highlighted the benefits of narrative practices, we utilized a series of scaffolding questions. Some of the most relevant outcomes of this project are: (a) the deconstruction of the dominant social discourse; (b) the publication of a book; (c) the reduction of loneliness feelings by re-membering significant figures; and (d) new levels of action both to women and the community as a consequence of a re-authoring process. Narrative practices seem to have contributed to the consolidation of all time dimensions, giving these women the opportunity to celebrate life after the age of 80, while also allowing the community to be part of and to benefit from the process. A reflection about the contributions of this article to a paradigm change toward positive aging is presented.     

Experiences of Women Who Underwent Predictive BRCA 1/2 Mutation Testing Before the Age of 30

This qualitative interview study focuses on the experiences of a sample of British female BRCA 1/2 carriers who had predictive testing before the age of 30, which is the minimum age for breast screening in the UK. Following appropriate informed consent procedures participants were recruited through the Cancer Genetics Service for Wales. Semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with seven participants, transcribed in full and analyzed using thematic analysis. The motives for testing and perceived advantages described by participants were similar to those identified in previous studies with older participants, such as increased awareness and knowledge and feeling more in control. However some of the perceived disadvantages were specific to younger women, including feeling pressured to make important life decisions earlier than they would have liked, such as about family planning and risk reducing surgery. Participants also reported feeling abandoned or forgotten because of lack of ongoing clinical contact, or feeling “stuck waiting” for screening to begin. However, none felt that these disadvantages were a reason to regret having testing. Findings in this small study suggest that having BRCA 1/2 predictive testing can have positive outcomes for young women even though they may be unable to access interventions such as breast screening. However it may be helpful to encourage young women during pre-test counseling to explore the decisions and choices they may face. These young women could benefit from ongoing support and follow up and increased interaction with healthcare professionals.     

Psychometric Properties of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form: A Study of Portuguese Speaking Children/Youths

The development of measures of children and adolescents’ subjective well-being is crucial to the conceptualization and evaluation of positive mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the factorial structure and invariance of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF—adolescents) across children and youths. Participants were from two different samples: 208 elementary school children (sample 1) and 216 middle school youths (sample 2). Results confirmed the three-dimensional structure of subjective well-being in both samples. The three sub-scales of the MHCSF yielded high internal consistency and results from the HTMT85 indicated discriminant validity. Measurement invariance testing across three different age groups (7–8, 9–10 and 11–14 years) confirmed the full metric and approximate scalar invariance of the MHC-SF. Full scalar invariance was achieved across gender. The study also compared the latent means for mental well-being in the three age groups, and found that the younger groups showed significantly higher levels of wellbeing. The present research study strongly suggests that the MHC-SF (adolescents) is an appropriate instrument to measure the positive mental health and well-being of children and pre-adolescents as multidimensional construct.