Reaction time inconsistency in a spatial stroop task: age-related differences through childhood and adulthood

Age-related differences in inconsistency of reaction time (RT) across the life span were examined on a task with differing levels of demand on executive control. A total of 546 participants, aged 5 to 76 years, completed a spatial Stroop task that permitted observations under three conditions (congruent, incongruent, and neutral) according to the correspondence between the required response (based on stimulus direction) and stimulus location. An interference effect was observed across all ages. Analyses of neutral condition data replicated previous research demonstrating RT inconsistency follows a U-shaped developmental curve across the life span. The relationship between age and inconsistency, however, depended on condition: inconsistency in the congruent condition was higher than inconsistency in both the neutral and incongruent conditions across middle-aged groups. Reaction time inconsistency may reflect processing efficiency that is maximal in young adulthood and may also be sensitive to fluctuations in performance that reflect momentarily highly efficient responding.     

Referate und diskussionen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Democracy and equity: the idea of the just state (Rechtsstaat) before and after 1994

Abstract

The recent publication of a special number of the SAJP dedicated to a discussion of Samantha Vice’s thoughts on being a white South African prompted this reflection on justice, equity and the modern idea of the state – against the background of moral feelings of guilt and shame, cultural diversity and merging identities. Its aim is to provide a perspective on the unity of the public legal order of the state, the distinct meaning of citizenship and affirmative action in terms of the distinction between constitutive and regulative legal principles also helping white South Africans to understand how affirmative action relates to injustices of the past. The classical understanding of equity will play a key role in this discussion, aimed at showing how we can avoid the apparent impasse of equality before the law and of “fair discrimination.”     

Heart electrophysiology as a dependent measure in children

This study extends the cardiac component analysis technique, reported by Eddy and his coworkers (Eddy, McKendree, McKenzie, & Bremner, 1982; McKendree, 1982), to children. Three male children between the ages of 8 and 10 years served as subjects and were tested on several days. In particular, the children were taught a simple relaxation task and a simple cognitive task. The cardiac electrophysiology of these children was statistically tested to determine whether there was a reliable difference between psychological tasks but only minimal variance within psychological tasks. The results of testing the ST component of the cardiac electrophysiology confirmed our hypothesis that there is a statistical difference between tasks (p < .001) but not within tasks when tested over time.     

加强青年医师素质培养进一步提高临床教学水平

探讨青年医师应具备的临床素质:优秀的道德品质、较高的文化素养、扎实的专业知识、较强的身心素质和不断的创新意识。分析目前存在的问题,高学历与实际能力不符、轻视临床思维分析、功利主义思想严重。指出如何强化青年医师的素质培养,规范化培训、注重学习和实践、制定合理政策。     

男性不育症临床工作的问题与思考

在临床工作中,不育越来越受到大家的重视,但仍然有许多问题困扰着我们的医疗工作者,多数医生能对男性不育症做出诊断,并给予治疗。但是由于生殖问题的复杂性和我们认识的局限性,不育症的治疗效果并不满意。在不育症诊断和治疗的思路、方法和方式中仍有许多值得探讨和改进之处。     

CTPI和CTA在椎底动脉系统TIA诊断中的互补性

研究CT灌注成像(CTPI)和CT血管造影(CTA)对椎底动脉系统短暂性脑缺血发作(TIA)的诊断价值.采用64排螺旋CT对30例患者进行常规CT、CT灌注成像和CT血管造影检查.30例CT平扫无责任病灶.CT灌注成像正常14例,异常16例.CTA正常4例,异常26例,CT灌注成像和CT血管造影联合应用有利于椎底动脉系统短暂性脑缺血发作的诊断和治疗方案的选择.     

An experiment promoting interdisciplinary applied human development: The University of Pittsburgh model

The University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development is an unusual university facilitative and administrative unit that promotes, funds, plans, implements, manages, and conducts interdisciplinary applied education, research, service demonstration, program evaluation, and policy projects pertaining to children, youth, and families. In the 9+ years of its existence, its soft-money budget has grown more than 34 times, its number of employees has increased 27-fold, and it has played a major role $75 million worth of collaborative projects. This article describes the Office's rationale, structure, purposes, principles of operation, projects, evaluation, and positive and negative factors in its development so that others may benefit from this case-study experiment in interdisciplinary applied human development programming.