TENI: A comprehensive battery for cognitive assessment based on games and technology

TENI (Test de Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil) is an instrument developed to assess cognitive abilities in children between 3 and 9 years of age. It is based on a model that incorporates games and technology as tools to improve the assessment of children’s capacities. The test was standardized with two Chilean samples of 524 and 82 children living in urban zones. Evidence of reliability and validity based on current standards is presented. Data show good levels of reliability for all subtests. Some evidence of validity in terms of content, test structure, and association with other variables is presented. This instrument represents a novel approach and a new frontier in cognitive assessment. Further studies with clinical, rural, and cross-cultural populations are required.     

Emotional Valence Precedes Semantic Maturation of Words: A Longitudinal Computational Study of Early Verbal Emotional Anchoring

We present a longitudinal computational study on the connection between emotional and amodal word representations from a developmental perspective. In this study, children's and adult word representations were generated using the latent semantic analysis (LSA) vector space model and Word Maturity methodology. Some children's word representations were used to set a mapping function between amodal and emotional word representations with a neural network model using ratings from 9-year-old children. The neural network was trained and validated in the child semantic space. Then, the resulting neural network was tested with adult word representations using ratings from an adult data set. Samples of 1210 and 5315 words were used in the child and the adult semantic spaces, respectively. Results suggested that the emotional valence of words can be predicted from amodal vector representations even at the child stage, and accurate emotional propagation was found in the adult word vector representations. In this way, different propagative processes were observed in the adult semantic space. These findings highlight a potential mechanism for early verbal emotional anchoring. Moreover, different multiple linear regression and mixed-effect models revealed moderation effects for the performance of the longitudinal computational model. First, words with early maturation and subsequent semantic definition promoted emotional propagation. Second, an interaction effect between age of acquisition and abstractness was found to explain model performance. The theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.     

Socio-technical communication: The hybrid space and the OLB model for science-based cyber education

Lessons from safety-critical sociotechnical systems, such as aviation and acute medical care, demonstrate the importance of the human factor and highlight the crucial role of efficient communication between human agents. Although a large proportion of fatal incidents in aviation have been linked to failures in communication, cognitive engineering provides the theoretical framework to mitigate risks and increase performance in sociotechnical systems not only in the civil sector, but also in the military domain. Conducting cyber operations in multidomain battles presents new challenges for military training and education as the increased importance of psychological factors such as metacognitive skills and perspective-taking both in lower and higher ranking staff, becomes more apparent. The Hybrid Space framework (Jøsok et al., 2016) provides a blueprint for describing the cognitive and behavioral constraints for maneuvering between socio-technical and cyber-physical systems whilst cooperating, coordinating or competing with accompanying cognitive styles in the chain of command. We apply the Hybrid Space framework to communicative challenges in the military cyber domain and suggest a three-phase Orienting, Locating, Bridging model for safe and efficient communication between partners. Based on the educational principles of the Norwegian Defence Cyber Academy, we discuss the required skill-sets and knowledge in which cyber officer cadets are trained and taught early in their education, and how these refer to the theoretical framework of the Hybrid Space and the key principles of communication as defined in cognitive engineering.     

High level swimming performance and its relation to non-specific parameters: a cross-sectional study on maximum handgrip isometric strength

The relationship between handgrip isometric strength and swimming performance was assessed in the four competitive swimming strokes in swimmers of different age groups and of both sexes. 78 national-level Portuguese swimmers (39 males, 39 females) were selected for this study. Grip strength, previously used as a marker of overall strength to predict future swimming performance, was measured using a hand dynamometer. The best competitive time at 100 and 200 m in all four swimming strokes were converted into 2010 FINA points. Non-parametric tests were used to evaluate differences between groups. Pearson product-moment correlations were computed to verify the association between variables. Handgrip maximum isometric strength was significantly correlated with swimming performance, particularly among female swimmers. Among female age group swimmers, the relationship between handgrip and 100-m freestyle was significant. Handgrip isometric strength seems to be related to swimming performance, especially to 100-m freestyle and in female swimmers. For all other distances and strokes, technique and training probably are more influential than semi-hereditary strength markers such as grip strength.     

Assessing the Impact of Relative Social Position and Absolute Community Resources on Depression and Obesity Among Smokers

We tested two competing hypotheses-relative social position and community resources-in regards to their effect on two co-occurring health problems (depression, and obesity) in a sample of smokers participating in an online smoking cessation intervention. Income and education data at the zip code level from the 2000 Census was linked with individual level data. Logistic regression models were used for each co-occurring problem to determine how each SES variable (individually and interactively) was associated with the presence of co-occurring health problems. We found that lower individual education was related to poorer health for all outcomes (Depression: OR = 1.25; Obesity: OR = 1.24; Both: OR = 1.46), lower community education was only related to obesity (OR = 1.20). Lower individual income was related to higher rates of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.64) and both health problems (OR = 1.55); a significant interaction of individual and community income (Wald = 6.13, p < .05) revealed that high income individuals were less likely to be depressed if they lived in lower-income communities and became more likely to be so as community income increased. Relative social position was confirmed for depression, whereas community resources were prominent only for obesity. Higher individual education most consistently predicted positive health outcomes, making it a potentially powerful target to reduce health disparities.     

Is conflict monitoring supramodal? Spatiotemporal dynamics of cognitive control processes in an auditory Stroop task

The electrophysiological correlates of conflict processing and cognitive control have been well characterized for the visual modality in paradigms such as the Stroop task. Much less is known about corresponding processes in the auditory modality. Here, electroencephalographic recordings of brain activity were measured during an auditory Stroop task, using three different forms of behavioral response (overt verbal, covert verbal, and manual), that closely paralleled our previous visual Stroop study. As was expected, behavioral responses were slower and less accurate for incongruent than for congruent trials. Neurally, incongruent trials showed an enhanced fronto-central negative polarity wave (N_inc), similar to the N450 in visual Stroop tasks, with similar variations as a function of behavioral response mode, but peaking ~150 ms earlier, followed by an enhanced positive posterior wave. In addition, sequential behavioral and neural effects were observed that supported the conflict-monitoring and cognitive adjustment hypothesis. Thus, while some aspects of the conflict detection processes, such as timing, may be modality dependent, the general mechanisms would appear to be supramodal.     

Validation of a Spanish version of the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale: Escala de Satisfacción Muscular

The psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale (MASS; Mayville, Williamson, White, Netemeyer, & Drab, 2002) were examined using a sample of five hundred and sixty-one male weightlifters. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested that the 19-item Spanish version of the MASS called the Escala de Satisfacción Muscular (ESM), was represented by five subscales similar to the original MASS. Internal consistency of the measure was good (α=.86-.95), and various measures of construct validity indicated that the ESM may be a useful measure of Muscle Dysmorphia symptoms among Spanish speaking populations.     

Portuguese Validation of FACES-IV in Adult Children Caregivers Facing Parental Cancer

The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the FACES-IV in Portuguese caregivers of cancer patients. In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 214 adult children caregivers of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, completed FACES-IV, Family Communication Scale (FCS), Family Satisfaction Scale (FSS), and Satisfaction with Social Support Scale (SSSS). Internal consistencies above .70 were found for all FACES-IV scales, except for Enmeshed and Rigid scales, as well as for the FCS, FSS, and SSSS (except for Intimacy). Strong correlations between FACES-IV and the validation scales FCS and FSS were found except for the Enmeshed and Rigid scales. Confirmatory analysis yielded an acceptable model for the six theoretical subscales. The discriminant analysis between problematic and non-problematic family systems showed results similar to the original study. These findings suggest that FACES-IV is a valid measure of family functioning in oncological family caregiving’s contexts.     

The Emotionality Activity Sociability Temperament Survey: Factor analysis and temporal stability in a longitudinal cohort

We investigated Buss and Plomin’s Emotionality Activity Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey for Children, used to assess temperament. Temperament is believed to comprise stable traits that change little over time. We examined stability of EAS temperament in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, in which 7429 mothers completed the EAS when their children were 3, 5 and 6 years old. Factor analysis was conducted at each time point, and stability over time was assessed using correlation and mixed effects regression modelling, accounting for differences within and between individuals. A four-factor model provided the best fit, with 19–20 of the 20 items loading onto the dimensions predicted by Buss and Plomin. Test–retest correlations ranged from 0.52–0.64 (3–5 years), 0.59–0.74 (5–6 years) and 0.46–0.58 (3–6 years). Mixed effects regression modelling suggested good stability over time: differences between, rather than within, individuals accounted for between 69% and 82% of the variance. This study demonstrates the stability of temperament over time, a vital pre-requisite to investigating childhood temperament as a predictor of outcomes.