Do adolescents want death to be included in their education?

Social Psychology of Education - This study sets out to ascertain adolescents’ attitudes and opinions towards death education. To this end two instruments were designed and validated: the...     

Who benefits from independent careers? Employees,organizations, or both?

The traditional organizational career has been depicted as the classic example of how employers and employees can develop a mutually beneficial relationship; but changes in the competitive landscape and in individual work values have challenged its viability. Commentators have argued that a ‘new career’ deal, encapsulated by the notions of the protean and the boundaryless career, has emerged suggesting a shift in control of careers from organizations to individuals. Research has explored the implications for individuals' careers while largely neglecting consequences for organizations. Our paper seeks to remedy this by exploring both the individual and the organizational outcomes of independent career orientations and the extent to which organizations can manage these through high commitment human resource management (HRM) practices. Our study, conducted with 655 employee–supervisor dyads, indicates that a protean career orientation results in gains for both employees and organizations, whereas a boundaryless career orientation is associated with mutual losses. In addition, our findings suggest that high commitment HR practices play an important role in managing the outcomes of employees seeking traditional careers but have only a limited impact on those with a boundaryless career orientation.     

Behind the scene: cognitive benefits of playing a musical instrument. Executive functions,processing speed,fluid intelligence and divided attention / Detrás de la escena: beneficios cognitivos de tocar un instrumento musical. Funciones ejecutivas,velocidad de procesamiento,inteligencia fluida y atención dividida

Abstract

The relationship between music training and cognitive performance has been much explored over the last decades. A variety of evidence shows a different neurological and cognitive processing in the population who have undergone instrumental music training compared to people who have not. A review of the literature shows the many advantages in cognitive skills musicians have gained from musical training, such as benefits to their executive functions and other aspects of cognition, in children as well as adults and the elderly. This study investigates in greater depth certain cognitive aspects associated with musical training in the adult population. Specifically, it explores its relationship with inhibition, working memory (verbal and visual-spatial), flexibility, processing speed, fluid intelligence and divided attention. Our results suggest that there is indeed a relationship between musical training and improvements in cognitive performance, both in executive functions and in other areas of cognition.     

THE METAPHOR OF THE ARCHITECT IN DARWIN: CHANCE AND FREE WILL

In The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, published in 1868, Darwin used the metaphor of the architect to argue in favor of natural autonomy and to clarify the role of chance in his theory of adaptive change by variation and natural selection. In this article, I trace the history of this important heuristic instrument in Darwin's writings and letters and suggest that this metaphor was important to Darwin because it helps him to explain the role of chance, and gives an argument in favor of the free will.     

Chronicity and severity of maternal postpartum depression and infant sleep disorders: a population-based cohort study in southern Brazil

A cohort study was conducted with 397 women randomly selected from the Brazilian National System of Public Health, to describe the prevalence rates of infant sleep problems at 12-month of life, and its association with chronicity and severity of maternal depressive symptoms. Mothers were assessed, first, from the 9th to the 12th week postpartum and then at 12 months after delivery, with EPDS and a self-rating questionnaire regarding babies’ sleep behavior. After controlling for possible confounders, babies whose mothers had severe chronic depressive symptoms were at higher risk for sleep disorder at 12 months of birth.     

Evidence for specificity of ERP abnormalities during response inhibition in ADHD children: A comparison with reading disorder children without ADHD

Executive function and working memory deficits are not only present in ADHD, but also in reading disorder (RD). Here, high-density ERPs were recorded during the Stop Signal Task in 53 children and adolescents: An ADHD-combined type group, a group with RD, and a healthy control group. The ADHD-C group displayed unique abnormalities of the frontal N200. Both healthy controls and RD groups showed a success-related right frontal N200 modulation, which was absent in the ADHD group. Second, for Success Inhibition trials, the ADHD-C had smaller right frontal N200 waves relative to healthy controls, while the RD group did not. In contrast, NoGo-P3 abnormalities were present both in the ADHD-C and RD groups. Impaired early response inhibition mechanisms, indexed by the frontal N200, appear to be limited to ADHD-C. In contrast, deficits in later cognitive control and error monitoring mechanisms, indexed by the NoGo-P3, appear to be present in both conditions.