The link between logic,mathematics and imagination: evidence from children with developmental dyscalculia and mathematically gifted children

This study examined performance on transitive inference problems in children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), typically developing controls matched on IQ, working memory and reading skills, and in children with outstanding mathematical abilities. Whereas mainstream approaches currently consider DD as a domain‐specific deficit, we hypothesized that the development of mathematical skills is closely related to the development of logical abilities, a domain‐general skill. In particular, we expected a close link between mathematical skills and the ability to reason independently of one's beliefs. Our results showed that this was indeed the case, with children with DD performing more poorly than controls, and high maths ability children showing outstanding skills in logical reasoning about belief‐laden problems. Nevertheless, all groups performed poorly on structurally equivalent problems with belief‐neutral content. This is in line with suggestions that abstract reasoning skills (i.e. the ability to reason about content without real‐life referents) develops later than the ability to reason about belief‐inconsistent fantasy content.A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90DWY3O4xx8     

Cognitive and emotional characteristics of New Religious Movement members: New questions and data on the mental health issue

The common assumption that members of so-called “cults” and New Religious Movements (NRMs) have mental health problems is usually countered by empirical research suggesting a normal personality profile. Going further than the normality–pathology distinction, we investigated affective-relational (parental and adult attachment) and cognitive (need for closure) needs, world assumptions, and past and present depression as reported by members (N?=?113) of a variety of NRMs in Belgium that are somewhat socially contested. Comparisons were made with data from the general population. Results suggest a fragile past (insecure attachment history, high need for closure, and depressive tendencies) but a positive present (positive world assumptions, security in adult attachment, no depression) and an optimistic future, at least on the basis of self-perceptions. Overall, the pattern of results fit well with what we know from psychology of conversion in general.     

The Portuguese version of Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination–Revised (ACE-R) in the diagnosis of subcortical vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of the Portuguese version of Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination–Revised (ACE-R) in detecting and differentiating early stage subcortical vascular dementia (SVD) from early stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Ninety-two subjects (18 SVD patients, 36 AD patients, and 38 healthy controls) were assessed using the ACE-R. Between-group’s differences were evaluated using the Quade’s rank analysis of covariance. The diagnostic accuracy and discriminatory ability of the ACE-R were examined via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The ACE-R was able to successfully discriminate between patients and healthy subjects. The mean ACE-R total scores differed between SVD and AD patients; there were also significant differences in attention and orientation and in memory measures between the groups. An optimal cut-off of 72/73 was found for the detection of AD (sensitivity: 97%; specificity: 92%) and SVD (sensitivity: 100%; specificity: 92%).     

Cognition in the Berlin Aging Study (BASE): The First 10 Years

This paper summarizes and expands research on cognitive aging from the Berlin Aging Study (BASE), a longitudinal, multidisciplinary, and population-based investigation of old and very old individuals. First, we describe previously reported research on five key themes: (a) experimental and mortality-associated components of longitudinal selectivity; (b) comparisons between cross-sectional and cross-sectional/longitudinal convergence age gradients; (c) old-age dedifferentiation of inter-individual differences; (d) possible reasons for the age-based increase in the link between intellectual and sensory domains; and (e) limits to cognitive plasticity in very old age. Second, we make use of multilevel modeling to determine the magnitude and direction of retest effects. Retest effects are classified as either flat (step function from the first to the second measurement occasion) or growing (linear increase after the first measurement occasion). Five of the eight longitudinally administered cognitive tests are found to display significant retest effects of either or both types. Retest adjustment increased the linear negative and decreased the quadratic negative component of cross-sectional/longitudinal convergence gradients in measures of intellectual abilities.     

Hemispheric lateralization in aging: Interest of the verbal-manual concurrency paradigm

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the classic asymmetry seen in hemispheric functioning is modified in older adults by using a verbal-manual concurrency task. Method: Thirty-five right-handed participants divided into two groups according to age (15 older participants, mean age: 68 ± 8 years, without cognitive decline and 20 younger participants, mean age: 23 ± 2 years) had to perform a 30-second uni-manual tapping task, in both a single task (tapping alone) and dual task (tapping and performing a letter fluency task together) condition. Results: In younger participants, the letter fluency task disrupted the right hand more than the left hand whereas, in older participants, the letter fluency task disrupted both hands equally. Conclusion: These results should be considered preliminary data using a behavioral dual task condition, which might be useful for studying lateralized hemispheric functioning and the processes of divided attention during aging.     

Age-related differences in word-retrieval but not in meaning generation

ABSTRACT

This study examines age-associated changes in retrieval on a picture-naming task, phonemic and semantic fluency tasks, and the Homophone Meaning Generation Test (HMGT). The sample included 152 Hebrew-speaking adults, half young (mean age 22.75) and half old (mean age 76.05). Groups differed on the picture-naming task and on both verbal fluency tasks, but not on the HMGT. Age explained a greater share of the variance than did education level on these three tests, whereas the opposite pattern of results was seen on the HMGT. We suggest that age-related word finding difficulties are attenuated when performance allows for semantic rather than phonological access.     

Age-related changes in the appreciation of novel metaphoric semantic relations

ABSTRACT

In the present study we tested the possibility that older adults differ from younger adults in their appreciation of metaphoric semantic relations, and that age-related changes occur due to the perception of novel metaphors. In the first experiment 35 younger (mean age?=?23.1) and 35 older adults (mean age?=?75.3) were asked to rate the plausibility of metaphoric, literal, and unrelated word pairs. Relative to young participants, older participants rated fewer expressions as metaphorically plausible. The second experiment was conducted to examine whether the findings of the first experiment could be accounted for by an age-associated difference in the appreciation of metaphors with different levels of familiarity. In the second experiment, 25 younger (mean age?=?24.4) and 25 older adults (mean age?=?77.5) were asked to rate the familiarity level of the plausible metaphoric expressions. Relative to young participants, older participants rated fewer expressions as novel and more expressions as familiar. The results suggest that novelty plays an important role in appreciating the plausibility of semantic relationships, and age-related changes are associated with the appreciation of the novelty of expressions.     

Recognition memory deficits in mild cognitive impairment

ABSTRACT

There is no agreement on the pattern of recognition memory deficits characteristic of patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Whereas lower performance in recollection is the hallmark of MCI, there is a strong controversy about possible deficits in familiarity estimates when using recognition memory tasks. The aim of this research is to shed light on the pattern of responding in recollection and familiarity in MCI. Five groups of participants were tested. The main participant samples were those formed by two MCI groups differing in age and an Alzheimer's disease group (AD), which were compared with two control groups. Whereas one of the control groups served to assess the performance of the MCI and AD people, the other one, composed of young healthy participants, served the purpose of evaluating the adequacy of the experimental tasks used in the evaluation of the different components of recognition memory. We used an associative recognition task as a direct index of recollection and a choice task on a pair of stimuli, one of which was perceptually similar to those studied in the associative recognition phase, as an index of familiarity. Our results indicate that recollection decreases with age and neurological status, and familiarity remains stable in the elderly control sample but it is deficient in MCI. This research shows that a unique encoding situation generated deficits in recollective and familiarity mechanisms in mild cognitive impaired individuals, providing evidence for the existence of deficits in both retrieval processes in recognition memory in a MCI stage.     

Impact de la motivation autodéterminée et de l’engagement affectif sur l’intention de rester : une étude chez les militaires

Conducted within the Canadian Forces (N=652), this study explores the role of self-determined motivation and affective commitment in relation to personnel retention within the military. Three groupings of variables are used in order to shed light on the mechanisms underlying personnel retention: a) distal antecedents (i.e. leadership styles), b) proximal antecedents (i.e. group cohesion and work climate) and c) mediators (i.e. self-determined motivation and affective commitment). Illustrated through a structural model, results demonstrate the existence of a partial mediator effect from affective commitment in the relationship between self-determined motivation and intention to stay. These findings are discussed in regards of their implications from theoretical and practical perspectives.     

Jan Patočka’s sacrifice: philosophy as dissent

This article attempts to bring together the life, situation, and philosophical work of the Czech phenomenologist Jan Pato?ka in order to present his conception of philosophy and sacrifice and to understand his action of dissent and his own sacrifice as spokesman for Charter 77 in light of these concepts. Pato?ka philosophized despite being barred from teaching under the German occupation and under the communist regime, even after he was forced to retire and banned from publication. He also refused the official philosophical categories of communism and, what is more, criticized the very manner in which its ideology allowed it to function. Against the destruction of moral and political life by communist and liberal regimes alike, he outlined the necessity of a “life in the idea” that would be responsive to the notion of sacrifice. Such a position of distance from the things of the world which remains anchored among them is meant to respond to dissatisfaction with the world as it is found and is the very movement of human freedom. Taken together, these three aspects of his philosophical practice made him a dissident, a role he took on more completely when, as part of the Charter 77 movement, he publicly opposed the state, in a course of action that led to his death.