Experiences of stereotyping among individuals employed in selected South African organisations

This study investigated the effects of stereotypes among individuals working in selected South African organisations. The participants were 336 employees within the following sectors: banking (n?=?40), higher education institutions (n?=?72), mining (n?=?63), municipalities (n?=?24), nursing (n?=?4), police services (n?=?20), schools (n?=?85), and the restaurant industry (n?=?28). Data were collected using open ended interviews, and thematically analysed. The findings indicated that stereotypes influence individuals on three different levels: cognitive, behavioural, and emotional levels. Predominantly, participants reported that they mostly react in a cognitive manner when confronted with stereotypes.     

Nicotine exposure effects on ADHD in young adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)

This study investigated whether ingestion of nicotine could enhance cognitive performance in people with ADHD. Participants with ADHD (n = 17) and without ADHD (n = 22) were contrasted for nicotine use. Cognitive performance was measured using selected subtests of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Baseline cognitive performance data were collected prior to experimental nicotine exposure. The ADHD group with nicotine exposure performed significantly better than the non-exposure group post-intervention. Nicotine exposure appears to boost cognitive performance in subjects with ADHD.     

Effects of Backpack Carriage on Dual-Task Performance in Children During Standing and Walking

Primary school children perform parts of their everyday activities while carrying school supplies and being involved in attention-demanding situations. Twenty-eight children (8–10 years old) performed a 1-legged stance and a 10 m walking test under single- and dual-task situations in unloaded (i.e., no backpack) and loaded conditions (i.e., backpack with 20% of body mass). Results showed that load carriage did not significantly influence children's standing and walking performance (all p > .05), while divided attention affected all proxies of walking (all p < .001). Last, no significant load by attention interactions was detected. The single application of attentional but not load demand negatively affects children's walking performance. A combined application of both did not further deteriorate their gait behavior.     

Performance of an Adapted Version of the Timed Up-and-Go Test in People with Cognitive Impairments

In clinical practice, older people with cognitive impairment may have difficulties to understand the instructions of the Timed Up-and-Go (TUGT) test and present a bad performance. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in the TUGT performance, in an adapted version, between older adults with preserved cognition (PC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to identify the association between the adapted TUGT performance and cognition among groups. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 118 community-dwelling older adults divided in three groups: PC (n?=?40), MCI (n?=?40) and AD (n?=?38). The evaluation was composed by the adapted TUGT and cognitive assessment (Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination and Frontal Assessment Battery). Only the cadence of TUGT presented significant difference between groups, specifically between AD versus MCI and PC groups. The main correlations were found between time of TUGT with fluency domain and global cognitive function, especially in the AD Group. The findings contribute to the understanding of how cognition interferes on functional mobility in older people with MCI and AD. The adapted TUGT is easy to perform in clinical practice and can be useful when assessing mobility in people with cognitive impairment.     

Distress Tolerance and Anxiety Sensitivity Cognitive Concerns: Testing the Incremental Contributions of Affect Dysregulation Constructs on Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempt

Empirical work has suggested relationships among suicide-related outcomes and several constructs related to affect dysregulation, notably anxiety sensitivity (AS) and distress tolerance (DT). However, important questions remain, including the relative contributions of these affect regulation variables as well as the direct contribution of DT on suicidal ideation and prior attempts. The current study sought to better elucidate the nature of these relationships by examining AS, DT, and suicidal ideation and attempt in a clinical sample (N = 192). Consistent with prior work and prediction, findings revealed a significant relationship between the AS cognitive concerns subfactor and suicidal ideation and suicide attempt history after accounting for the effects of DT, gender, and depressive symptoms. In addition, depressive symptoms significantly moderated the relationship between the AS cognitive concerns subfactor and suicidal ideation. After accounting for the influence of AS, analyses revealed that DT approached significance in predicting suicidal ideation, but did not significantly predict suicide attempt history. These results suggest that elevated AS cognitive concerns are particularly relevant to suicide in the context of depressive symptoms. Clinicians may benefit from implementing AS reduction strategies with individuals who endorse elevated suicide risk as well as elevated AS cognitive concerns.     

Muscle Damaging Exercise Affects Isometric Force Fluctuation as well as Intraindividual Variability of Cognitive Function

Healthy untrained men (N = 11) were asked to perform 10 series of 12 repetitions of knee eccentric extension (EE) at 160° per second. Quadriceps muscle torques evoked by electrical stimulation at 20 Hz (P20) and 100 Hz (P100), maximal voluntary isometric contraction torque (MVC), maximal isokinetic concentric torque (IT) at 30° per second, voluntary activation index (VA), simple reaction time (RTs), complex reaction time (RTc), and torque variability at 30% of MVC were measured before EE, immediately after EE, and 60 min and 24 hr after EE. MVC, IT, P20, P100, and VA decreased significantly after EE and remained depressed 24 hr later. Torque variability increased significantly after EE. Average RTs and RTc did not change after EE, whereas intraindividual variability in RTs and RTc increased significantly after EE.     

The Impact of Regulatory Fit on Performance in an Inattentional Blindness Paradigm

The influence of timing and frequency of instructions on the reasoning of jurors in a simulated grand larceny trial was investigated. Mock jurors were given definitions of grand larceny before and after the testimony, only before, only after, or not at all. Although timing of instructions was not significantly related to reasoning or to verdicts, frequency of instructions influenced the aspects of testimony deemed relevant and increased juror use of legal rules in making verdicts. Selective encoding of testimony could not account for the instruction effect.     

The Contributions of Memory and Attention Processes to Cognitive Abilities

In two experiments, the contributions of memory and attention processes to the cognitive abilities of reasoning and perceptual speed were investigated. Two measures of speed of information retrieval from long-term and short-term memory (Posner paradigm, Sternberg paradigm) and two attention measures (continuous attention test, attention switching test) were included in the first experiment (N = 220). The memory tests led to correlations with the measures of cognitive abilities, whereas the attention test did not. The same tests as well as one additional memory test and one attention test (working memory test, test of covert orientation) were administered in the second experiment (N = 116). Again, the memory tests led to the larger correlations with the measures of cognitive abilities. Two components were obtained in components analysis, of which the first was characterized by high loadings of the memory tests and the second by high loadings of the attention tests. Only the memory component contributed to the prediction of cognitive abilities.