Association rule learning in neuropsychological data analysis for Alzheimer’s disease

Efficient methods of analysis readily available for clinicians continue to be limited within neuropsychological assessment at the raw data level. Here, a novel approach for generating predictive response patterns and analysing neuropsychological raw data is offered. In order to assess the usefulness of association rule learning as an analysis tool for neuropsychological raw data, Frequent Pattern Growth (FP-Growth) was used to mine patterns from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropsychological Battery (CERAD-NB) database. Complete assessment data for 84 post-mortem confirmed Alzheimer’s disease (AD) cases and 294 age, race, and education matched controls were analysed across baseline and one-year follow-up using FP-Growth, for the purpose of assessing the clinical utility of a finer analysis at the raw data level and the feasibility of predicting response patterns for clinical/control groups. Output from FP-Growth, in terms of the number of frequent itemsets retained across both evaluation timepoints, was discernable between controls, mild, and moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease cases (p < .001, and η² = .488). Patterns within raw data scores, both in terms of frequent itemsets and predictive association rules, appear to be differentiable across groups within neuropsychological analysis, which indicates that FP-Growth is applicable as a supplementary analysis tool for neuropsychological assessment by means of offering an additional level of data analysis, predictive item response capabilities, and aiding in clinical decision making.     

A Danish version of the Sensation Seeking Scale and its relation to a broad spectrum of behavioral and psychological characteristics

The primary purpose of the present study was to evaluate the internal consistency and construct validity of the Danish translation of Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). The secondary aim was to extend the range of psychological variables and behaviors that have been related to sensation seeking. The sample consisted of 691 subjects (363 males and 328 females) with a mean age of 31.7 years. The internal consistency of the scales was evaluated by coefficient alpha and intercorrelations among the five scales derived from the SSS were computed. Information on other variables was collected through standardized tests as well as questionnaires and interviews developed especially for this study. The results showed that the Danish SSS is a psychometrically sound instrument and revealed the relationship between sensation seeking and a broad spectrum of psychological traits and behaviors: socioeconomic status, academic achievement, intelligence, personality, smoking, alcohol and drug use, sexuality, driving and public transportation violations, and leisure time activities. Thus, this study confirmed and expanded the findings of many previous studies, while the results supported the validity of the Danish SSS and corroborated the usefulness of the concept of sensation seeking.     

Culture learning theory and globalization: Reconceptualizing culture shock for modern cross-cultural sojourners

Culture shock has long been of great concern regarding the wellbeing and mental-health of international sojourners. Over the last three decades, the world has experienced rapid globalization and the introduction of various technologies which have been found to ‘buffer’ the effects of culture shock, yet the conceptualizations concerning the nature, prevalence, and effects of this phenomenon have not been explicitly modernized to suit such a contemporary social landscape. Based on an extensive literature review, particularly concerning the research conducted with international student populations, this paper offers conceptual insight on how the experience of culture shock has evolved in the present information age, and argues modern sojourner experiences are increasingly reflective of culture learning. Specifically, this paper considers exactly how technological advancements have facilitated change in the subjective experience of the psychosocial processes during a cross-cultural immersion. A foundation for future research to explore the mechanisms of culture learning theory is also contributed.     

Psychometric properties and reference data for Danish versions of Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test,Category Cued Memory Test and Logical Memory

Memory assessment is a key element in neuropsychological testing. Gold standard evaluation is based on updated normative data, but in many small countries (e.g. in Scandinavia) such data are sparse. In Denmark, reference data exist for non‐verbal memory tests and list‐learning tests but there is no normative data for memory tests which capture narrative recall and cued recall. In a nation‐wide study, Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT ), WMS ‐III Logical Memory (LM ) and a newly developed test Category Cued Memory Test (CCMT ‐48) were applied in 131 cognitively intact persons (aged 60–96 years). Regression‐based reference data for Danish versions of FCSRT , CCMT ‐48 and LM adjusted for age, education and gender are provided. Gender and age‐group had a significant impact on the expected scores, whereas the effect of education had a limited effect on expected scores. Test performances were significantly correlated in the range 0.21–0.51. Based on these findings and previous results it may be relevant to assess both free recall, cued recall and recognition to tap the earliest changes associated with neurodegeneration, and this study therefore provides an important supplement to existing Danish normative data. Future studies should investigate the discriminative validity of the tests and the clinical utility of the presented reference data.     

Statin Use,Ageing, and Cognition: A Review

Cholesterol performs a number of important roles in normal brain functioning, including the formation of myelin sheaths and communication between cells, and it has been theorised that statin use could disrupt these roles leading to deficits in cognition. Relevant research was identified via the La Trobe University library Summon^TM search tool, using search terms including “statin cognition,” “statins cognition,” “statin brain,” “cholesterol cognition,” “cholesterol brain,” and “statin adverse effects” in addition to examination of the reference lists of the retrieved research articles. Research was examined from the published literature across several different research modalities: systematic reviews and meta‐analyses, randomised control trials, cohort studies, and case reports. On the basis of the surveyed literature, it is not possible to indicate any consistent caution or limitation with regard to the use of statins and their effects upon cognitive functioning due to the contradictory and inconsistent results arising from this literature. In summary, it is not possible to conclusively determine whether there are either cognitive benefits or detriments associated with the use of the statins. The determination of the effect of these agents on neuropsychological functioning requires more methodologically controlled long‐term longitudinal follow‐up studies of these treatments due to the complex and multisystem effects of these agents.     

A cross-cultural comparison of where drivers choose to look when viewing driving scenes

A substantial proportion of road accidents occur as a result of drivers having poor or insufficient visual search strategies. However, the majority of research into drivers visual search comes from high income Western countries where roads are relatively safe, with less being known about the visual search of drivers from non-western, low and middle income countries with much higher crash rates. This is despite the fact that cross-cultural studies have shown differences in visual search outside of driving between Western and Eastern individuals. The current study aimed to see whether these differences were present in driving by asking UK and Malaysian drivers to select where they would look when viewing images of roads from the perspective of a driver. Results showed that all drivers selected a similar number of focal objects, however there was a difference in the type of background information drivers chose to attend to, with Malaysian drivers selecting more task irrelevant information at the expense of task relevant information. Results suggest that there are cultural differences in what drivers choose to attend to which may contribute to the increased crash rate amongst drivers from low and middle income countries.     

COVID-19 is Feminine: Grammatical Gender Influences Danger Perceptions and Precautionary Behavioral Intentions by Activating Gender Stereotypes

Gendered languages assign masculine and feminine grammatical gender to all nouns, including nonhuman entities. In French and Spanish, the name of the disease resulting from the virus (COVID-19) is grammatically feminine, whereas the virus that causes the disease (coronavirus) is masculine. In this research, we test whether the grammatical gender mark affects judgments. In a series of experiments with French and Spanish speakers, we show that grammatical gender affects virus-related judgments consistent with gender stereotypes: feminine- (vs. masculine-) marked terms for the virus lead individuals to assign lower stereotypical masculine characteristics to the virus, which in turn reduces their danger perceptions. The effect generalizes to precautionary consumer behavior intentions (avoiding restaurants, movies, public transportation, etc.) as well as to other diseases and is moderated by individual differences in chronic gender stereotyping. These effects occur even though the grammatical gender assignment is semantically arbitrary.     

Psychometric properties of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) in seven countries

Objectives

In the sport context, the coach-athlete relationship has been viewed and studied as a universal phenomenon. It is thus important to assess the universality of the psychometric scale that is used to measure the quality of coach-athlete relationships. The present study examined the cultural equivalence or measurement invariance of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (11-item, athlete version CART-Q).

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

A total of 1363 athletes from Belgium (N = 200), Britain (N = 382), China (N = 200), Greece (N = 115), Spain (N = 120), Sweden (N = 169), and United States of America (N = 177) completed the CART-Q.

Results

Multi-group mean and covariance structure (MACS) analyses supported the factorial validity of the CART-Q in a three-first-order factor model across the seven countries. An examination of the latent mean differences of the CART-Q revealed some variation in terms of the intensity that athletes perceive in the quality of the relationship with their coach across the different countries.

Conclusions

Overall, these results supply additional evidence of the psychometric properties of the CART-Q and highlight that it is a sound instrument that can be applied cross-culturally.