Sensitivity of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (64-Card Version) versus the Tower of London (Drexel Version) for detecting executive dysfunction in children with epilepsy

Executive function deficits are common in children and adolescents with epilepsy. Though the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) is often considered the “gold standard” for executive function assessment, its sensitivity—particularly in the case of the 64-card version (WCST-64)—is insufficiently established in pediatric samples, including children and adolescents with epilepsy. The present investigation assesses the sensitivity of the WCST-64 in children and adolescents with epilepsy in comparison to another measure: the Tower of London – Drexel Version (TOL-DX). A total of 88 consecutively referred children and adolescents with epilepsy were administered both the WCST-64 and TOL-DX as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. The sensitivity of WCST-64 and TOL-DX variables were established and relations with epilepsy severity measures and other executive function measures were assessed. Of the WCST-64 variables, Perseverative Responses is the most sensitive, but detected executive function impairment in only 19% of this clinically referred sample; in contrast, the TOL-DX Rule Violations detected executive function impairment in half of the sample. Further, TOL-DX performances are more strongly related to epilepsy severity variables and other executive function measures in comparison to the WCST-64. Despite its popularity amongst clinicians, the WCST-64 is not as sensitive to executive dysfunction in comparison to other measures of comparable administration time, such as the TOL-DX.     

The effects of pure pair repetition on younger and older adults' associative memory

Although aging causes relatively minor impairment in recognition memory for components, older adults' ability to remember associations between components is typically significantly compromised, relative to that of younger adults. This pattern could be associated with older adults' relatively intact familiarity, which helps preserve component memory, coupled with a marked decline in recollection, which leads to a decline in associative memory. The purpose of the current study is to explore possible methods that allow older adults to rely on pair familiarity in order to improve their associative memory performance. Participants in 2 experiments were repeatedly presented with either single items or pairings of items prior to a study list so that the items and the pairs were already familiar during the study phase. Pure pair repetition (the effects of pair repetition after the effects of item repetition are taken into account) increased associative memory for older and younger adults. Findings based on remember and know judgments suggest that familiarity but not recollection is involved in mediating the repetition effect.     

Emotional valence modulates the preference for curved objects

Previous studies have shown that people prefer objects with curved contours over objects with sharp contours. However, those studies used stimuli that were mainly neutral in emotional valence. We tested here the interplay between visual features and general valence as positive or negative. After replicating curvature preferences for neutral objects, we used positive (cake, chocolate) and negative (snake, bomb) stimuli to examine if emotional valence-through response prioritisation-modulates the preference for curved objects. We found that people indeed preferred the curved versions of objects to the sharp versions of the same objects, but only if the objects were neutral or positive in emotional valence. There were no difference in liking for objects with negative emotional valence. This is evidence that the aesthetic response is adaptive, in this case prioritising valence over contour as demanded by the general semantic classification.     

Familiarity and personal experience as mediators of recall when planning for future contingencies

In this article, we demonstrate that planning tasks enhance recall when the context of planning (a) is self-referential and (b) draws on familiar scenarios represented in episodic memory. Specifically, we show that when planning tasks are sorted according to the degree to which they evoke memories of personally familiar scenarios (e.g., planning a picnic), recall is reliably superior to tasks that fail to do so (e.g., planning an Arctic trek). We discuss the implications of these findings for planning tasks and their relation to episodic memory.     

The role of attention in the associative binding of emotionally arousing words

In the present study, we examined the role of attention in modulating the memory benefit of emotional arousal for same-valence word pair associations. To assess the role of attention either at encoding or at retrieval, participants studied lists of positive, neutral, and negative words pairs under full attention, divided attention at encoding, or divided attention at retrieval, and then were tested on the single words and on the associations between words. Consistent with past studies, memory accuracy was higher for emotional items than for neutral items, and no memory difference was observed across emotional arousal conditions for associations when encoding occurred under full attention. In contrast, memory accuracy was higher for emotionally arousing items and associations relative to neutral items when encoding occurred under divided attention. Finally, dividing attention at retrieval revealed similar effects across emotion conditions, suggesting that retrieval of emotional stimuli relative to neutral stimuli, unlike encoding, does not benefit from automatic processing. The discussion emphasizes the role of automatic processing during encoding in producing the benefit of emotionally enhanced memory, as well as the extent to which controlled attention is responsible for eliminating or reversing (relative to neutral materials) emotionally enhanced memory for associations. Additionally, the implications of the divided-attention-at-retrieval manipulation include consideration of the way in which emotional items may be consciously processed during encoding.     

ISRAELI MOBILIZATION AND THE OVERSEAS VOLUNTEERS IN THE SIX-DAY WAR

This article examines the mobilization of the Israeli home front and the overseas volunteering movement that began in May 1967 and continued through the summer of 1968. The mobilization in the Six-Day War included manifestations of solidarity and volunteering in diverse fields. The Israeli government and the Histadrut sent volunteers to frontier communities and raised funds from the public to finance the war. The movement included World Jewry, which also participated in fundraising through an emergency campaign and sent thousands of volunteers to Israel. The goal of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency to transform the volunteering movement into a Jewish immigration movement to Israel and to strengthen the bond between Israel and World Jewry, shaped the character of this movement. The article examines the character of this movement and discusses the nature of the encounter between the overseas volunteers and Israeli society.     

Is the emotional Stroop task a special case of mood induction? Evidence from sustained effects of attention under emotion

Sustained effects of emotion are well known in everyday experience. Surprisingly, such effects are seldom recorded in laboratory studies of the emotional Stroop task, in which participants name the color of emotion and neutral words. Color performance is more sluggish with emotion words than with neutral words, the emotional Stroop effect (ESE). The ESE is not sensitive to the order in which the two groups of words are presented, so the effect of exposure to emotion words does not extend to disrupting performance in a subsequent block with neutral words. We attribute this absence of a sustained effect to habituation engendered by excessive repetition of the experimental stimuli. In a series of four experiments, we showed that sustained effects do occur when habituation is removed, and we also showed that the massive exposure to negative stimuli within the ESE paradigm induces a commensurately negative mood. A novel perspective is offered, in which the ESE is considered a special case of mood induction.     

Emotional intelligence (EI), conflict resolution patterns,and relationship satisfaction: Actor and partner effects revisited

This study tested for actor and partner effects in the relationship between ability-based EI and adaptive marital relationships and satisfaction employing a standard dyadic design involving 100 young heterosexual couples. Participants were assessed on the MSCEIT along with measures of conflict resolution patterns and perceived marital satisfaction. A series of path analyses provided support for actor effects—but not partner effects—in the association of EI, assessed as ability, and marital variables. Overall, the data provide only partial support for the common claim and some prior research suggesting that EI plays a pivotal role in marital relationships.     

Anxiety and bodily symptoms under the threat of missile attacks: The israeli scene

Abstract

The present research, conducted in Israel during the recent “Desert Storm” operation in the Gulf, sets out to assess the degree of anxiety and bodily symptoms of Israeli citizens, threatened by Scud missile attacks and undergoing a period of acute stress. Data were gathered via questionnaires distributed during the crisis period to over 500 respondents, most of them residing in Haifa, one of the high-risk areas for the missile attacks at the time. State anxiety was reported to be highly elevated during the crisis period, in comparison with norm group data collected during normal times. The most frequently reported bodily symptoms were changes in eating habits (loss of appetite or overeating), fatigue, and insomnia. Women reported more anxiety and bodily symptoms, on average, than men, as well as higher tension, fear and depression. The younger adults in the sample reported more anxiety and bodily symptoms, as well as tension, fear and depression, than their older counterparts. Lower levels of fear and depression were reported at the later stages of the crisis than at the earlier ones; most stress indicators evidenced lower levels with the passage of time. Finally, a strong positive relationship between anxiety and bodily symptoms was found, over and above the contribution of background variables and response tendencies. The possible explanations for the effects of background variables, as well as the strong relationship between anxiety and symptoms reported, are discussed.     

Knowledge and Action,Reason and Habit,in Jewish and Muslim Philosophies of Education

Jewish and Muslim philosophers, alike, regarded the formation of proper habits to be the key to effective education. They also considered rational acceptance of religious obligation to be mandatory for successful observance. This essay examines the relationship between these two dimensions of religious education: knowledge and reason on the one hand, and habit and action on the other hand, in the philosophical and pedagogical works of Abu Hāmid al-Ghazāli (1058–1111,) Moses Maimonides (1135–1204), and the anonymous Sefer Ha-Hinnukh (13th century).