Cross-national comparisons of complex problem-solving strategies in two microworlds

Research in the fields of complex problem solving (CPS) and dynamic decision making using microworlds has been mainly conducted in Western industrialized countries. This study analyzes the CPS process by investigating thinking-aloud protocols in five countries. Participants were 511 students from Brazil, Germany, India, the Philippines, and the United States who worked on two microworlds. On the basis of cultural-psychological theories, specific cross-national differences in CPS strategies were hypothesized. Following theories of situatedness of cognition, hypotheses about the specific frequency of problem-solving strategies in the two microworlds were developed. Results of the verbal protocols showed (a) modification of the theoretical CPS model, (b) task dependence of CPS strategies, and (c) cross-national differences in CPS strategies. Participants' CPS processes were particularly influenced by country-specific problem-solving strategies.     

Negative theology and science in the thought of Semyon Frank

Semën Frank (1877–1950) considered the Universe as the “all-unity.” According to him, everything is a part of the all-unity, which has a divine character. God is present in the world, but his nature is incomprehensible. In this article I analyze two consequences of Frank’s panentheistic view of the relation between science and theology. Firstly, the limits of scientific knowledge allow recognition of the mystery of the world and the transcendence of God. Secondly, Frank claimed that nature is a “trace” of God and the manifestation of the absolute reality, i.e. the all-unity. As a result, both science and theology lead to the knowledge of God, although we cannot understand His essence.     

Time course of inhibitory processes in bilingual language processing

This study examines the time course of inhibitory processes in Spanish–English bilinguals, using the procedure described in Macizo, Bajo, and Martín. Bilingual participants were required to decide whether pairs of English words were related. Critical word pairs contained a word that shared the same orthography across languages but differed in meaning (interlingual homographs such as pie, meaning foot in Spanish). In Expts 1 and 2, participants were slower to respond to homographs presented along with words related to the Spanish meaning of the homograph as compared to control words. This result agrees with the view that bilinguals non‐selectively activate their two languages irrespective of the language they are using. In addition, bilinguals also slowed their responses when the English translation of the Spanish homograph meaning was presented 500 ms after responding to homographs (Expt 1). This result suggests that bilinguals inhibited the irrelevant homograph meaning. However, the inhibitory effect was not observed in Expt 2 when the between‐trial interval was fixed to 750 ms which suggests that inhibition decayed over time.     

Role of attention, memory, and covariation-detection processes in clinically significant eating-disorder symptoms

Cognitive theorists implicate a role for cognitive processing of shape- and weight-related information in the maintenance and potential etiology of eating disorders. The present study examines the role of women’s processing of information regarding other women’s body size and affect in eating disorder symptoms among young women. 253 female undergraduates completed attention, memory, and covariation-detection tasks that presented full-body photographs of young women, as well as an eating-disorder measure. High-Symptom women, relative to Medium- and Low-Symptom women, showed greater relative attention to body size than affect, better memory for body size and worse memory for affect, and enhanced sensitivity to the manipulated covariation between body size and affect. All participants perceived an illusory correlation between body size and affect. These findings suggest that cognitive theories may be extended usefully by considering processing of other-relevant and affective information, as well as the role of covariation-detection processes in eating disorders.     

The quality of teacher-student interactions: associations with first graders' academic and behavioral outcomes

The associations between the quality of teacher-student interactions and first grade academic and adaptive behavior outcomes were examined in a study of 106 Portuguese students in 64 first grade classrooms. Students' vocabulary, print concepts, math, and adaptive skills were assessed both at the end of preschool and in first grade. Classrooms were observed in the spring of first grade. After taking into account family risk factors and preschool skills, the quality of teacher-student interactions, particularly in terms of classroom organization, was positively associated with students' first grade vocabulary and print concepts. In addition, classroom quality predicted number identification outcomes differently depending on student skills prior to school entry. Students with lower preschool math skills seemed to benefit from higher quality teacher-student interactions. These findings provide further support for the unique contribution of the quality of teacher-student interactions in first grade and suggest that it may be an important mechanism to improve academic skills.     

The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26): reliability and validity in Spanish female samples

This paper focuses on the validation of the Spanish form of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26; Garner, Olmsted, Bohr & Garfinkel, 1982) across two studies. Participants in Study 1 were 778 females recruited from community settings (aged 12-21). Study 2 included 86 females recruited from clinical and 86 females from community settings (aged 12-35). Results from Principal and Simultaneous Component Analyses showed a unidimensional structure of the EAT-26 item scores. Reliability analyses supported the internal consistency of the scale. Study 1 also explores the ability of the EAT-26 to discriminate between subjects with Eating Disorder (ED), Symptomatic or Asymptomatic by means of ROC analyses and using results from the Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnoses (Q-EDD; Mintz, O'Halloran, Mulholland, & Schneider, 1997) as criterion. The EAT-26 demonstrated good specificity but insufficient sensitivity to detect a full or partial ED. Study 2 explores the ability of the questionnaire to discriminate between subjects with and without ED. The EAT-26 demonstrated good specificity and moderate sensitivity to detect ED. Clinical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.     

When causality shapes the experience of time: Evidence for temporal binding in young children

It is well established that the temporal proximity of two events is a fundamental cue to causality. Recent research with adults has shown that this relation is bidirectional: events that are believed to be causally related are perceived as occurring closer together in time—the so‐called temporal binding effect. Here, we examined the developmental origins of temporal binding. Participants predicted when an event that was either caused by a button press, or preceded by a non‐causal signal, would occur. We demonstrate for the first time that children as young as 4 years are susceptible to temporal binding. Binding occurred both when the button press was executed via intentional action, and when a machine caused it. These results suggest binding is a fundamental, early developing property of perception and grounded in causal knowledge. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQC_MqjxZQQ     

Angiotensin II differentially affects hippocampal glial inflammatory markers in young adult male and female mice

Hypertension is a risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders involving inflammation and inflammatory cytokine-producing brain cells (microglia and astrocytes) in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Here we investigated the effect of slow-pressor angiotensin II (AngII) on gliosis in the hippocampus and mPFC of young adult (2-mo-old) male and female mice. In males, AngII induced hypertension, and this resulted in an increase in the density of the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the subgranular hilus and a decrease in the density of the microglial marker ionized calcium binding adapter molecule (Iba-1) in the CA1 region. Females infused with AngII did not show hypertension but, significantly, showed alterations in hippocampal glial activation. Compared with vehicle, AngII-infused female mice had an increased density of Iba-1 in the dentate gyrus and CA2/3a region. Like males, females infused with AngII exhibited decreased Iba-1 in the CA1 region. Neither male nor female mice showed differences in GFAP or Iba-1 in the mPFC following AngII infusion. These results demonstrate that the hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to AngII in young adulthood. Differences in gonadal hormones or the sensitivity to AngII hypertension may account for divergences in GFAP and Iba-1 in males and females.

Hypertension is a significant risk factor for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer''s disease (AD) that are associated with neurodegeneration and cognitive decline (Daugherty 2021). Hypertension can develop during the life span yet is often studied at middle and late life. There is emerging evidence that hypertension is becoming more common in late adolescence and early adulthood (Azegami et al. 2021; Hamrahian and Falkner 2022). In addition, there is increasing awareness that the duration of hypertension can impact the onset of neural degeneration (Schaare et al. 2019; Yang et al. 2021) and cognitive dysfunction (Yaffe et al. 2014, 2021; Mahinrad et al. 2020; Zhou et al. 2022). Although the age of onset of hypertension may influence the trajectory of degenerative disease in later life, the effect of hypertension on brain health in young adult subjects is relatively underinvestigated.Hippocampal and medial prefrontal cortical pathology are commonly present in neurodegenerative diseases like AD (Belonwu et al. 2021). Structurally and functionally, both the hippocampus and mPFC also are compromised during hypertension (Raz et al. 2007; Gonzalez et al. 2015; Bu et al. 2018). In the hippocampus, hypertension is known to disrupt cerebrovascular function, promote inflammatory processes, and contribute to neuronal impairment and cognitive decline (Iulita et al. 2018). Although less studied than the hippocampus, the PFC is also compromised by hypertension (Raz et al. 2007; Bu et al. 2018; Wang et al. 2020).Microglia, the resident macrophages in the brain, have been implicated in inflammatory states, cognitive function (Cornell et al. 2022), and the brain''s response to hypertension (Calvillo et al. 2019; Li et al. 2020). An increase in the density of ionized calcium binding adapter molecule (Iba-1), a protein constitutively expressed in microglia and up-regulated when microglia enter an activated stage (Imai et al. 1996; Sasaki et al. 2001), is commonly reported in models of cognitive and neurodegenerative disorders (Prinz et al. 2021).In addition to microglia, astrocytes also have been implicated in the emergence of hippocampal and cortical dysfunction. Astrocytes play critical roles in blood–brain barrier (BBB) formation; brain metabolic, ion, and water homeostasis; neurotransmitter recycling; synapse formation; and neuroimmune signaling (Matias et al. 2019). In the context of insult, pathogen infection, or neurological disease, astrocytes undergo functionally complex reactive responses (Chiu et al. 2014; Giovannoni and Quintana 2020) that are associated with an increase in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) gene and protein expression (Crespo-Castrillo et al. 2020; Sofroniew 2020).To better understand the consequences of elevated blood pressure on the young adult brain, we conducted an exploratory investigation of the impact of hypertension on the expression of microglia and astrocyte markers—Iba-1 and GFAP, respectively—in the hippocampus and mPFC of male mice. Mice were exposed to angiotensin II (AngII) using the “slow-pressor” model (Dickinson and Lawrence 1963), which in males mimics the gradual rise in blood pressure and increase in sympathetic activation (Grassi and Ram 2016; Lerman et al. 2019) characteristic of essential hypertension (Lerman et al. 2019). Significantly, there is an important sex dimorphism in the risk for hypertension. Compared with men, women are protected from hypertension before middle age but become increasingly affected as they reach perimenopause, and intact young female rodents show a reduced sensitivity to AngII hypertension (Van Kempen et al. 2016). Similarly, there are sex differences in the incidence, progression, and severity of hypertension-associated neurodegenerative disease (Lopez-Lee et al. 2021). Furthermore, sex differences in glial function have also been documented within the context of neurodegenerative diseases (Kodama and Gan 2019; Biechele et al. 2020). Given this evidence, the effect of AngII on hippocampal and medial prefrontal cortical glial markers also was investigated in young intact female mice.