Fonctions exécutives,vieillissement cognitif et variations stratégiques

Aging is characterized by a decrease of cognitive performance in most of cognitive domains. One of the most fundamental issues is then to know what are the underlying mechanisms of these age-related changes in human cognition. Recent research suggests that in addition to speed of processing and working memory capacities, age-related impairment in executive functioning plays an important role in the cognitive decline associated to aging. Above and beyond performance, current research shows that the mediating role of executive function in age-related changes in cognitive performance occurs via changes in strategies variations (i.e., repertoire, distribution, execution, and selection of the strategies used to accomplish a cognitive task). In this article, we illustrate both strategic variations and underlying executive control mechanisms in two important cognitive domains : episodic memory and problem solving.     

The lives of Mary Foote: painter and Jungian

Mary Foote (1872‐1968) was a successful early twentieth century American artist who suddenly closed her New York studio in 1926 to go to Zurich to study with Jung. There she joined his ‘Interpretation of Visions’ seminars (1930‐1934), which she recorded and edited. This work won Jung's praise and his friendship, but all too often Foote was seen merely as a secretary or background figure. Deirdre Bair's biography of Jung suggested that Foote's life and work deserved fuller study, if only to rebalance our view of Jung's early women followers. This paper takes up that work to ask how Foote's early life and career led to her important work in preserving and describing Jung's earliest attempts to apply his theories to clinical practice.