Cognitive function in older adults according to current socioeconomic status

Cognitive function may be influenced by education, socioeconomic status, sex, and health status. Furthermore, aging interacts with these factors to influence cognition and dementia risk in late life. Factors that may increase or decrease successful cognitive aging are of critical importance, particularly if they are modifiable. The purpose of this study was to determine if economic status in late life is associated with cognition independent of socioeconomic status in early life. Cross-sectional demographic, socioeconomic, and cognitive function data were obtained in 2592 older adults (average age 71.6 years) from the Center for Disease Control’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and analyzed with linear regression modeling. Cognitive function, as measured with a test of processing speed, was significantly associated with poverty index scores after adjusting for educational attainment as an estimate of childhood socioeconomic status, ethnic background, age, health status, and sex (P < 0.001). Our findings suggest that current economic status is independently associated with cognitive function in adults over age 60 years.     

After Augsburg: The Ecumenical Future of Justification

Abstract

The recent vigorous debate between two distinguished Catholic theologians and churchmen, Joseph Ratzinger and Walter Kasper, both cardinals, regarding the relationship between the universal church and the local church, is analysed. Though to some extent resolved, the debate has also proved rather intractable, because of unacknowledged ambiguities, for example regarding the meaning of the term, ‘universal Church’, and assumptions, particularly regarding eschatology. Through an examination of key texts in the debate, beginning with the 1992 Vatican letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Church as communion, which stated that the universal church is ‘a reality ontologically and temporally prior to every individual church’, both Ratzinger and Kasper are seen as exponents of a western view of ‘eschatology as orientation’, which John Zizioulas has contrasted with a stronger eastern view of ‘eschatology as presence’. It is proposed that this stronger eschatology can help to clarify and resolve underlying issues in the debate.     

Finding a Locus for Dialogue between Genetics and Theology

Christoph Schönborn, Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, has dismissed Pope John Paul II's position on theology and science as “rather vague and unimportant.” I believe that the Cardinal's analysis of John Paul II's views on evolution and Christian faith deserves a careful and detailed response from all those concerned with the constructive dialogue between science and theology that John Paul II so strongly supported for decades. My ‘bottom line’ is twofold. First, Cardinal Schönborn's concern over evolution is unnecessary: What scientists view as chance in nature Christians can see as God's ongoing and purposeful action in the creation of life and humanity. Second, the Cardinal's concern is also misplaced. When evolutionary theory is co-opted by atheists to serve their agenda the Cardinal should challenge the atheists, not the science they falsely claim proves their views.     

How do world-class cricket batsmen anticipate a bowler's intention?

Four experiments are reported that examine the ability of cricket batsmen of different skill levels to pick up advance information to anticipate the type and length of balls bowled by swing and spin bowlers. The information available upon which to make the predictive judgements was manipulated through a combination of temporal occlusion of the display and selective occlusion or presentation of putative anticipatory cues. In addition to a capability to pick up advance information from the same cues used by intermediate and low-skilled players, highly skilled players demonstrated the additional, unique capability to pick up advance information from some specific early cues (especially bowling hand and arm cues) to which the less skilled players were not attuned. The acquisition of expert perceptual-motor skill appears to involve not only refinement of information extraction but also progression to the use of earlier, kinematically relevant sources of information.     

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.     

A more democratic and therefore more peaceful world

Democracies, while not more peaceful than other kinds of states in most respects, nevertheless almost never fight each other. The apparent reason is a recognition by the people of such states that other democratically‐governed states share a commitment to individual rights and peaceful conflict resolution within their systems, and the consequent assumption that similar norms can make possible the peaceful settlement of conflicts of interests between such states. Movement toward greater democracy has been occurring in most of the third world and many communist countries; this movement has important implications for the prospect of peace between at least somewhat democratized states, and especially important implications for U.S.‐Soviet relations. Democratization can be assisted by a combination of diplomacy, promotion of international communication, and normative concern for human rights.     

Do emotions have distinct vocal profiles? A study of idiographic patterns of expression

Research on vocal expressions of emotion indicates that persons can identify emotions from voice with relatively high accuracy rates. In addition, fairly consistent vocal profiles for specific emotions have been identified. However, important methodological issues remain to be addressed. In this paper, we address the issue of whether there are individual differences in the manner in which particular emotions may be expressed vocally and whether trained speakers’ portrayals of emotion are in some sense superior to untrained speakers’ portrayals. Consistent support was found for differences across speakers in the manner in which they expressed the same emotions. No accompanying relationship was found between differences in expression and accuracy of identification of those expressions. Little evidence for the superiority of trained speakers was found. Implications of these findings for future studies of vocal expressions of emotion, as well as our understanding of emotions in general, are discussed.     

VALIDITY OF THE PEARSON‐JOHNSON TAXONOMY OF COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

Questions constitute an important component of reading instruction and several studies suggest that the Pearson‐Johnson taxonomy of comprehension questions can be applied in classroom situations. However, the validity of the taxonomy has not been directly investigated. The present study was conducted for this purpose and involved 82 fourth‐ and fifth‐grade students. Three research questions were investigated: (1) do mean scores for the taxonomy categories correspond to theoretical expectations regarding difficulty?; (2) do response patterns to questions correspond to taxonomy categories?; and (3) are the relationships among scores on the types of questions logical and to be expected? The results of the study generally conformed to theoretically derived expectations.     

Constrained prose recall and the assessment of long-term forgetting: The case of ageing and the Crimes Test

It has become increasingly clear that some patients with apparently normal memory may subsequently show accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF), with dramatic loss when retested. We describe a constrained prose recall task that attempts to lay the foundations for a test suitable for detecting ALF sensitively and economically. Instead of the usual narrative structure of prose recall tests, it employs a matrix structure involving four episodes, each describing a minor crime, with each crime involving the binding into a coherent episode of a specified range of features, involving the victim, the crime, the criminal and the location, allowing a total of 80 different probed recall questions to be generated. These are used to create four equivalent 20-item tests, three of which are used in the study. After a single verbal presentation, young and elderly participants were tested on three occasions, immediately, and by telephone after a delay of 6 weeks, and at one of a varied range of intermediate points. The groups were approximately matched on immediate test; both showed systematic forgetting which was particularly marked in the elderly. We suggest that constrained prose recall has considerable potential for the study of long-term forgetting.