How Children’s Cognitive and Affective Responses to a Novel Task Relate to the Dimensions of Perfectionism

The current study examined how the Maladaptive Evaluative Concerns (MEC) versus Positive Achievement Striving (PAS) dimensions of perfectionism relate to anxiety, goal-setting, and cognitive appraisal in third-grade to sixth-grade students who completed an object-naming task under three goal-demand conditions: self-set goals, and low and high experimenter goals. The results indicated that children high on a measure of socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP; a measure of MEC) experienced more anxiety across all conditions than children low in SPP. Children scoring high on SPP also rated performing well on the task as more important and were more likely to say they should have performed better than their low SPP counterparts, despite no significant differences in performance or standard-setting. The PAS component of perfectionism was unrelated to children??s responses. These results are consistent with Beck??s cognitive theory and support the utility of the maladaptive evaluative concerns dimension of perfectionism in predicting children??s cognitive and affective responses to new tasks.     

Task practice differentially modulates task-switching performance across the adult lifespan

Cued-trials task-switching paradigms have been used extensively to examine ageing-related changes in cognitive control. Many studies report an increase in mixing cost (i.e., cost of repeating the same task in a single-task vs. a mixed-task block) and a less reliable increase in switch cost (i.e., cost of switching vs. repeating tasks in a mixed-task block) in old as compared to young adults. However, there is substantial variability between studies in the emergence and size of age effects on mixing and/or switch cost. In this study, we examined variation in mixing cost and switch cost as a function of task practice and preparation interval across the adult lifespan (18-79 years) using a paradigm that promotes advance preparation and reduces cue encoding differences between switch and repeat trials. Both preparation interval and task practice modulated mixing cost and switch cost-but task practice mediated the effects of preparation interval and age differentially for mixing cost and switch cost. Mixing cost was consistently larger in older participants, reduced with preparation and varied little with task practice. In contrast, the effect of preparation interval on switch cost varied with task practice. Reduction in switch cost with preparation interval emerged in younger participants by the second practice session and even later in older participants. When fully practiced, older participants showed greater mixing cost but less switch cost than younger participants. Age effects on both mixing cost and switch cost were mediated by changes in processing of repeat trials, indicative of reduced differentiation between switch and repeat trials in mixed-task blocks. This is consistent with reduced cognitive flexibility with increasing age.     

Saints as the ‘Living Gospel’: Von Balthasar's Revealers of the Revealer,Rahner's Mediators of the Mediator

The theologies of the saints of Hans Urs Von Balthasar and Karl Rahner are grounded in the theologians' distinct articulations of the relationship between nature and grace, Rahner's shaped by his response to the Nouvelle Théologie and Von Balthasar's influenced by his engagement with Henri De Lubac and Karl Barth. It is a generalization, but one useful for drawing contrasts, that for Rahner the saints are mediators of the Mediator and that for Von Balthasar they are revealers of the Revealer. While the theologies can be reconciled, a richer understanding of the function of saints can emerge by maintaining the contrasts. The symbolic capacity of saints in Rahner's thought and the saints' exemplary abandonment to personal mission in Von Balthasar's thought are each an emphasis valuable in communicating saints' instructional and efficacious presence for others in the ecclesial Body.     

The Relationship Between Religious Service Attendance and Coronary Heart Disease and Related Risk Factors in Saskatchewan, Canada

Research suggests that attending religious services could provide small yet important protective benefits against coronary heart disease (CHD) and CHD risk factors (e.g., diabetes, hypertension). The extent to which these benefits apply to Canada deserves study because approximately one-third of adult Canadians attend religious services at least monthly. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the association between frequency of religious service attendance and prevalence of (1) CHD, (2) diabetes, and (3) hypertension in Canada. We used the Saskatchewan sample (n = 5,442) of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS-4.1) and built multivariable logistic regression models to evaluate associations between religious service attendance and self-reported CHD, diabetes, and hypertension. After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic and health behavior variables, the association between religious service attendance and prevalence of CHD was not significant (OR = 0.82; 95 % CI 0.61–1.11). However, persons who attended religious services more than once a week exhibited lower prevalence odds of diabetes (OR = 0.60; 95 % CI 0.45–0.80) and hypertension (OR = 0.82; 95 % CI 0.68–0.99) compared to persons who attended less than once a year. The findings of this study are the first to suggest religious service attendance may be associated with a lower prevalence of CHD risk factors in Canada.     

Cognitive Vulnerabilities as Mediators between Emotional Abuse and Depressive Symptoms

This study tested whether childhood parental emotional abuse and peer emotional bullying serve as antecedents of depression in adolescence and identified the cognitive mechanisms involved in this process. It was hypothesized that the experience of emotional abuse would predict depressive symptoms via development of rumination and negative inferences. A 3-wave longitudinal study was carried out with 998 adolescents (471 girls and 526 boys) between 13 and 17 years of age. Results showed that emotional abuse by parents and peers at Time 1 predicted a worsening of several cognitive vulnerabilities at Time 2. In addition, brooding mediated between the experiences of abuse and the increase of depressive symptoms at Time 3. Thus, findings suggest that the experiences of childhood emotional abuse by parents and peers serve as antecedents to develop a negative cognitive style, vulnerability that, once developed, is a risk factor for the onset of depressive symptoms in adolescence.     

Elasmobranch cognitive ability: using electroreceptive foraging behaviour to demonstrate learning, habituation and memory in a benthic shark

Top predators inhabiting a dynamic environment, such as coastal waters, should theoretically possess sufficient cognitive ability to allow successful foraging despite unpredictable sensory stimuli. The cognition-related hunting abilities of marine mammals have been widely demonstrated. Having been historically underestimated, teleost cognitive abilities have also now been significantly demonstrated. Conversely, the abilities of elasmobranchs have received little attention, despite many species possessing relatively large brains comparable to some mammals. The need to determine what, if any, cognitive ability these globally distributed, apex predators are endowed with has been highlighted recently by questions arising from environmental assessments, specifically whether they are able to learn to distinguish between anthropogenic electric fields and prey bioelectric fields. We therefore used electroreceptive foraging behaviour in a model species, Scyliorhinus canicula (small-spotted catshark), to determine cognitive ability by analysing whether elasmobranchs are able to learn to improve foraging efficiency and remember learned behavioural adaptations. Positive reinforcement, operant conditioning was used to study catshark foraging behaviour towards artificial, prey-type electric fields (Efields). Catsharks rewarded with food for responding to Efields throughout experimental weeks were compared with catsharks that were not rewarded for responding in order to assess behavioural adaptation via learning ability. Experiments were repeated after a 3-week interval with previously rewarded catsharks this time receiving no reward and vice versa to assess memory ability. Positive reinforcement markedly and rapidly altered catshark foraging behaviour. Rewarded catsharks exhibited significantly more interest in the electrical stimulus than unrewarded catsharks. Furthermore, they improved their foraging efficiency over time by learning to locate and bite the electrodes to gain food more quickly. In contrast, unrewarded catsharks showed some habituation, whereby their responses to the electrodes abated and eventually entirely ceased, though they generally showed no changes in most foraging parameters. Behavioural adaptations were not retained after the interval suggesting learned behaviour was not memorised beyond the interval. Sequences of individual catshark search paths clearly illustrated learning and habituation behavioural adaptation. This study demonstrated learning and habituation occurring after few foraging events and a memory window of between 12 h and 3 weeks. These cognitive abilities are discussed in relation to diet, habitat, ecology and anthropogenic Efield sources.     

Cognitive control of familiarity: Directed forgetting reduces proactive interference in working memory

Proactive interference (PI) occurs when previously learned information interferes with new learning. In a working memory task, PI induces longer response times and more errors to recent negative probes than to new probes, presumably because the recent probe’s familiarity invites a “yes” response. Warnings, longer intertrial intervals, and the increased contextual salience of the probes can reduce but not eliminate PI, suggesting that cognitive control over PI is limited. Here we tested whether control exerted in the form of intentional forgetting performed during working memory can reduce the magnitude of PI. In two experiments, participants performed a working memory task with directed-forgetting instructions and the occasional presentation of recent probes. Surprise long-term memory testing indicated better memory for to-be-remembered than for to-be-forgotten items, documenting the classic directed-forgetting effect. Critically, in working memory, PI was virtually eliminated for recent probes from prior to-be-forgotten lists, as compared to recent probes from prior to-be-remembered lists. Thus cognitive control, when executed via directed forgetting, can reduce the adverse and otherwise persistent interference from familiarity, an effect that we attribute to attenuated memory representations of the to-be-forgotten items.     

How Does it STAC Up? Revisiting the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition

“The Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition (STAC)”, proposed in 2009, is a conceptual model of cognitive aging that integrated evidence from structural and functional neuroimaging to explain how the combined effects of adverse and compensatory neural processes produce varying levels of cognitive function. The model made clear and testable predictions about how different brain variables, both structural and functional, were related to cognitive function, focusing on the core construct of compensatory scaffolding. The present paper provides a revised model that integrates new evidence about the aging brain that has emerged since STAC was published 5 years ago. Unlike the original STAC model, STAC-r incorporates life-course factors that serve to enhance or deplete neural resources, thereby influencing the developmental course of brain structure and function, as well as cognition, over time. Life-course factors also influence compensatory processes that are engaged to meet cognitive challenge, and to ameliorate the adverse effects of structural and functional decline. The revised model is discussed in relation to recent lifespan and longitudinal data as well as emerging evidence about the effects of training interventions. STAC-r goes beyond the previous model by combining a life-span approach with a life-course approach to understand and predict cognitive status and rate of cognitive change over time.     

What’s the Harm? Genetic Counselor Perceptions of Adverse Effects of Genetics Service Provision by Non-Genetics Professionals

Anecdotal accounts suggest some patients have experienced negative outcomes as a result of receiving genetics services from non-genetics providers, but empirical evidence of these incidents and their outcomes is limited. This study examined genetic counselors’ perceptions of the occurrence of such incidents in the state of Minnesota. Twenty-five genetic counselors completed an on-line survey and 20 also participated in a semi-structured telephone interview. The interviewees recalled and described 37 specific incidents they perceived as having negative outcomes for patients and/or their families. Inductive and cross-case analysis revealed common themes including: adverse psychosocial effects, inadequate genetic counseling, genetic testing and screening errors, medical mismanagement, negative shifts in attitudes toward medical providers, and unnecessary use of health care resources. Commonly mentioned strategies for preventing/mitigating negative outcomes included: educational outreach and awareness programs for medical providers and the general public, standardized testing and screening processes, and implementing mechanisms for reporting and addressing adverse events. Additional findings, practice and policy implications, and research recommendations are discussed.     

A Qualitative Inquiry of the Financial Concerns of Couples Opting to Use Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis to Prevent the Transmission of Known Genetic Disorders

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is an innovative prenatal testing option because the determination of whether a genetic disorder or chromosomal abnormality is evident occurs prior to pregnancy. However, PGD is not covered financially under the majority of private and public health insurance institutions in the United States, leaving couples to decide whether PGD is financially feasible. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the role of finances in the decision-making process among couples who were actively considering PGD. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were completed with 18 genetic high-risk couples (36 individual partners). Grounded theory guided the analysis, whereby three themes emerged: 1) Cost is salient, 2) Emotions surrounding affordability, and 3) Financial burden and sacrifice. Ultimately, couples determined that the opportunity to avoid passing on a genetic disorder to a future child was paramount to the cost of PGD, but expressed financial concerns and recognized financial access as a major barrier to PGD utilization.