Cognitive plasticity in Alzheimer's disease patients receiving cognitive stimulation programs

The main purpose of this article is to examine whether cognitive plasticity increases after cognitive training in Alzheimer's disease patients. Twenty six patients participated in this study, all of them diagnosed with mild Alzheimer's disease, 17 of them received a cognitive training program during 6 months, and the other 9 were assigned to the control group. Participants were assigned to experimental or control conditions for clinical reasons. In order to assess cognitive plasticity, all patients were assessed before and after treatment with three subtests from the "Bateria de Evaluación de Potencial de Aprendizaje en Demencias" [Assessment Battery of Learning Potential in Dementia] (BEPAD). After treatment, Alzheimer's disease patients improved their performance in all the tasks assessing cognitive plasticity: viso-spatial memory, audio-verbal memory and verbal fluency. However, the cognitive plasticity scores of the patients in the control group decreased. In conclusion, this study showed that cognitive stimulation programs can improve cognitive functioning in mildly demented patients, and patients who do not receive any cognitive interventions may reduce their cognitive functioning.     

Cognitive impairment in the early phase of multiple sclerosis and its relationship with mood, demographic and clinical variables

Our aim was to study cognitive performance in the early phase of MS. In addition, we studied whether depression, demographic and clinical variables differentiate cognitively impaired patients from non-impaired patients. A group of 52 MS-RR patients with mild level of neurological disability and 51 healthy controls were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. The MS group performed significantly worse on several measures of attention and processing speed and visuoperceptive/visuoconstructive tasks. Verbal memory is characterized by working memory deficits, whereas the visual memory impairment is attributable to deficits in acquisition and consolidation/recuperation. Results shows that cognitive impairment is evident even in MS patients in the early course of their disease. Depression scores were higher in cognitively impaired patients as compared with unimpaired patients. The effect of educational level suggests that higher education delays the onset of cognitive decline.     

Tangibles as predictors of customer satisfaction in sports services

This study investigates the power of tangible dimensions of service quality to predict customer satisfaction. For this purpose, we statistically controlled the effects of dimensions of service quality that describe social interaction between employees and customers, both functionally and relationally. A field survey was conducted with the participation of 556 customers of a sports centre. The results showed that tangible dimensions of service quality predicted an additional and significant amount of customer satisfaction variance, beyond the effects of service quality of the social interaction. The article concludes with the discussion of the implications of these results.     

“后社会主义时代”的正义——Nancy Fraser社会正义概念研究

在政治伦理论域中,多元文化主义和女性主义已成为自由主义正义论在当前的强劲对手.以社会批判理论著称的南希·弗雷泽就是以这样一种双重身份介入了这场论辩,提出了有关"后社会主义时代"的正义构想.弗雷泽提出"地位模式的承认"将承认的合法性框限在仅和社会平等地位相关的范围内,用以强调对承认正义的诉求绝不可遮蔽对再分配正义的反省与批判,并据此构建了一种以"平等参与"为支点的"双焦点的正义概念"和""视角上的二元论方法"来表达对当前社会不正义的关注.     

Evaluation of Halpern's "structural component" for improving critical thinking

Halpern (1998) proposed a four-component model for promoting the transfer of critical thinking. One of them, the "structural component," focuses on how to organize teaching so that critical thinking skills can be generalized. Here, we assess the efficiency of that type of organization. Thus, one group of university students received instruction following the suggestions specified in that component and their performance was compared with that of other university students who received instruction in the same skills but using a different procedure, and with that of a control group. In comparison with the control group, the performance of both instructed groups was better after training. However, no significant differences were observed between either instruction group; both forms of instruction afforded very similar results.     

The development of academic competence among adolescents who bully and who are bullied

Using data from the first three waves (Grades 5, 6, and 7) of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, this study assessed if being a bully or being a victim accounts for an adolescent's academic competence, if selected contextual and individual variables impact an adolescent's academic competence, and if such impact differs in relation to an adolescent's bullying status. The results of random coefficient hierarchical regression analyses indicated that being a bully predicted lower grades across time, and that being a bully was more detrimental for girls than for boys. Being a bully and being a victim negatively predicted self-perceived academic competence, but these predictive effects did not change over time or differ by sex. Teacher support positively predicted grades and greater parent support and teacher support independently predicted higher self-perceive academic competence. Greater educational expectations and school engagement independently predicted higher self-reported grades, while these two predictors positively interacted in explaining self-perceived academic competence. Unexpectedly, peer support negatively predicted self-reported grades for victims, and negatively predicted self-perceived academic competence for bullies. We discuss the importance of addressing the issue of academic competence in bullying interventions, as well as the utility of capitalizing on developmental assets in promoting academic competence among adolescents who bully and who are bullied.     

GKT原理的卡片测试范式实验研究

研究设计了三种包含不同说谎和认知成分的回答方式,以无意义字母串为刺激材料,以60名被试为对象检验GKT对犯罪嫌疑人的识别是基于认知还是说谎反应.研究结果表明:(1)仅包含认知成分的"重复"回答方式条件下,GKT能够区分关键信息和控制信息,表明认知成分存在于GKT测谎模式的运作机制中.(2)包含相同认知成分、不同说谎成分的回答方式条件下,GKT对知道关键信息的"犯罪"者的反应判定准确性不同:"不是…"回答方式下反应判定的准确性最高.重复回答方式下的判定准确性最低,由此证实说谎成分存在于GKT机制中.(3)仅包含认知成分的回答方式反应判定准确性最低,说谎成分的加入显著提高判定准确率.说谎成分与认知成分在GKT原理中的比重尚需进一步探索.     

积极心理健康的内涵解析

学术界一般把积极心理学视野下的心理健康称为积极心理健康,它是当代心理健康相关学科发展的一个潮流.积极心理健康认为消除或摆脱了各种心理问题的人并不一定就意味着心理健康,心理健康还意味着正向力量或积极品质的产生与增加,因此,心理健康相关学科在研究人的各种心理问题的同时,也应该花相同精力或时间去研究人的积极力量和积极品质.在研究思路上,积极心理健康也表现出了一个非常明显的新特点,强调心理健康研究要从以关注个体总的心理状态为主的研究思路转向于以关注个体内差异为主的研究思路.     

河湟地区伊斯兰教"海乙"制的历史变迁

在西北伊斯兰教的研究中,学术界往往注重门宦制度的研究,而忽略了对"海乙"制度的研究,就是涉及该问题的有关研究也存在主观的、片面的看法,缺乏客观性.本文在现有的资料的基础上,根据已有的学术成果和新发现的资料,结合多年来在河湟地区的观察、调查和感受,对河湟一代伊斯兰教中的"海乙"制的形成、发展、变迁、影响等方面作一个初步的探讨,以期引起学术界对此问题研究的关注.     

《管子》治国思想的渊源探析

《管子》的治国思想强调以人为本、注重人性,礼法并用、德刑并重,发展经济、农商并重,为历代君王将相和学者所尊崇和探究。文章立足于《管子》成书的时间和空间因素,从周公和姜太公两者的治国思想探讨了《管子》治国思想的渊源,以期从历史的角度更好地理解《管子》的治国思想。