Cognitive deficits related to major organ failure: The potential role of neuropsychological testing

Until recently, little attention has been paid to the possibility of cognitive deficits in patients with disease or failure of major organs such as the liver, kidney, or heart. However, there is a growing awareness that major organ failure often has neuropsychological sequelae. These sequelae may at times be quite subtle and not detectable under gross. examination. Nevertheless, even subtle deficits may have a major impact on adherence to medical regimens, psychosocial adjustment, and quality of life of patients. Neuropsychological assessment has a potentially valuable role to play both in research and in clinical work. It can be useful in adding to our knowledge of the cognitive effects of various types, severity and duration of major organ disease, as well as sequelae associated with treatment. It also is a potentially valuable clinical tool for identifying cognitive deficits that will affect the quality of life and probability of survival for organ failure patients.     

A typical interaction behaviour between fathers and toddlers: Teasing

The purpose of this article is threefold. First, it presents teasing behaviours towards the infant through the notion of ‘expectancy violation’, and defines what parental teasing may consist of. Secondly, the paper summarizes empirical data which show that teasing concerns more paternal than maternal behaviours. Thirdly, we speculate about a positive impact of this kind of typical paternal behaviour on cognitive and social development, as it introduces novelty and ambiguity, which must be processed, as well as negotiation of a struggle.     

THE CUMULATIVE QUALITY OF CULTURE EXPLAINS HUMAN UNIQUENESS

What explains the unique features of human culture? Culture is not uniquely human, but human culture is uniquely cumulative. Cumulative culture is a product of our collective intelligence and is supported by cognitive processes and learning strategies that enable people to acquire, transform, and transmit information and technologies within and across generations. Technological and social innovations are currently driving unprecedented changes in cultural complexity and diversity. Innovation is a cognitively and socially complex, multistep process that typically requires (cumulative) cultural learning to achieve. I argue that the technological solutions that characterize twenty-first-century innovation can only be explained by understanding both the capacity to learn from and build upon the insights of others and the transmission systems that store the knowledge and technologies of previous generations. Human uniqueness is a product of cumulative cultural learning, transmission, and innovation.     

Positive Interpretation Bias Predicts Longitudinal Decreases in Social Anxiety

Theoretical models of social anxiety suggest that distorted interpretation processes contribute to its development and maintenance, although the pathways through which this occurs are not well understood. Therefore, the present longitudinal study sought to determine whether negative interpretation bias, positive interpretation bias, and interpretation inflexibility (the degree to which participants correctly revise initial interpretations) predict changes in social anxiety over time. In an important advance over prior studies, individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) were accounted for, as WMC is thought to play a crucial role in the generation and maintenance of interpretation biases. Following a baseline assessment of social anxiety, interpretation biases, and WMC, participants completed follow-up assessments of social anxiety both 2 weeks (n = 106) and 4 weeks (n = 96) later. After controlling for baseline social anxiety and WMC, greater positive interpretation bias was found to predict lower social anxiety at both follow-ups. Neither negative interpretation bias nor interpretation inflexibility was significantly associated with follow-up social anxiety. These results provide support for greater positive interpretation bias as a facilitator of decreases in social anxiety and a potential target for clinical intervention.     

论内隐认知

人的认知活动是意识过程和无意识过程的统一,该文论证了内隐认知过程的存在性、普遍性、有效性,相对独立性,并就内隐与外显认知过程的关系及其在认识中的作用做了分析和评价。     

Early maternal stimulation and the development of cognitive competence and attention of preterm infants

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between several dimensions of maternal interactive behaviours, and cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. Of special interest was the question of whether high levels of maternal stimulation and activity may have negative consequences for the development of preterm infants. Sixty-six preterm infants and their mothers were followed longitudinally and videotaped in interaction situations at home, at the infant age of 6, 9 and 12 months. Mothers behaviours were scored on involvement, sensitive responsiveness, non-intrusiveness and level of activity. Moreover, infant cognitive status was assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months of age, using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Infant ability in problem solving and attention were assessed in two problem solving tasks at 18 and 24 months of age. The results showed that infant cognitive status at 12 and 24 months was best predicted by maternal involvement and infant responsiveness. No significant relationships were found between maternal interactive behaviours and infant ability in problem solving and attention. More importantly, there was no indication that high levels of maternal stimulation or intrusiveness may have a negative impact on later cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cognitive Social Maturity, Life Change Events, and Health Risk Behaviors among Adolescents: Development of a Structural Equation Model

Purpose: To examine the roles of cognitive social maturity and life change events in a structural equation model (SEM) to explain adolescents' use of marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol. Methods: Data were derived from 1322 9th and 10th graders in a HIV prevention study. Students completed a survey of their cognitive social maturity, recent life events and substance use habits. A model from a study on the metabolic control of adolescents with diabetes was modified to apply to health risk behaviors. Results: A SEM was tested and fit the data well. Lower cognitive social maturity and greater life change events significantly predicted health risk behaviors. Life events partially mediated the relationship between cognitive social maturity and health risk behaviors. Conclusions: Adolescents' social thought processes are related to their recent life events, which in turn are related to their substance use behaviors. Suggestions are made for interventions to improve adolescents' cognitive social maturity.     

Career optimism: The roles of contextual support and career decision-making self-efficacy

Drawing from the social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), we examined the role of parental support, teacher support, and career decision-making self-efficacy as sources of career optimism. We tested our proposed model using 235 computer science majors from a large university in the Philippines. Surveys were conducted over two measurement periods (1 year apart). Results revealed that Time 1 parental and teacher support were positively associated with Time 2 career optimism. Furthermore, we found that these direct relationships were fully mediated by Time 1 career decision-making self-efficacy. These results remained significant even after controlling for neuroticism and past performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

A Brain-Based Account of the Development of Rule Use in Childhood

ABSTRACT— The ability to follow explicit rules improves dramatically during the course of childhood, but relatively little is known about the changes in brain structure and function that underlie this behavioral improvement. Drawing from neuroscientific studies in human adults and other animals, as well as from an emerging literature in developmental cognitive neuroscience, we propose a brain-based account of the development of rule use in childhood. This account focuses on four types of rules represented in different parts of the prefrontal cortex: simple rules for reversing stimulus–reward associations, pairs of conditional stimulus–response rules (both univalent and bivalent), and higher-order stimulus–response rules for selecting among task sets. It is hypothesized that the pattern of developmental changes in rule use reflects the different rates of development of specific regions within the prefrontal cortex.     

Durability of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Effects for Youth and Adolescents With Anxiety,Depression, or Traumatic Stress:A Meta-Analysis on Long-Term Follow-Ups

Cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) for youth with anxiety, traumatic stress, and depression have demonstrated strong effects in individual studies and meta-analyses. Relatively more attention has been given to posttreatment effects, though, and assessment of follow-up effects has been limited at the meta-analytic level. The current meta-analysis aimed to (a) examine the effects of youth CBT at posttreatment, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, and long-term (2 + years) follow-up as well as (b) identify research-related variables (e.g., measure respondent type) that relate to effects. Using a random effects model across 110 child and adolescent CBT groups, within-group effect sizes were large at posttreatment (g = 1.24) and from 1-month through long-term follow-up (g = 1.23–1.82), and effect sizes did not significantly differ by treatment target (i.e., anxiety, traumatic stress, depression). However, availability of outcome data for effect sizes diminished across later follow-up assessments. Moreover, effect sizes were significantly associated with outcome respondent type across assessment timing, with outcome measures from caregiver and youth respondents associated with smaller effect sizes (B = -0.97, p < 0.001) relative to outcome measures that were evaluator-reported. Results provide initial support for the durability of treatment effects for youth CBTs and highlight the importance of some confounding variables. Implications for improving treatment research standards and prioritizing assessment of long-term follow-up assessment are discussed.