家庭功能与学前儿童行为问题的关系:依恋回避和社交焦虑的多重中介作用

采用纵向的研究设计,对上海市两所公办幼儿园192名学前儿童进行为期一年半的追踪调查,探讨了家庭功能与学前儿童行为问题之间的关系以及依恋回避和社交焦虑的中介作用。结果发现：（1）家庭功能、依恋回避、社交焦虑和儿童行为问题之间存在两两相关;（2）家庭功能能够显著负向预测儿童行为问题;（3）依恋回避和社交焦虑分别在家庭功能和行为问题之间起独立中介作用;（4）依恋回避和社交焦虑在家庭功能和行为问题之间起序列中介作用。研究结果进一步揭示了家庭功能对学前儿童行为问题影响的内在机制。     

Adaptation to an autoimmune disorder: Does mental flexibility impact illness-related self-regulation?

Objective: To examine whether mental flexibility moderates the relationship between illness representations of control and coping behaviour in individuals suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Design: Recently, diagnosed RA (N = 80) and SLE (N = 75) patients completed questionnaires about illness representations of personal and treatment control and four coping behaviours: instrumental coping, adherence to medical advice, palliative coping and wishful thinking. Mental flexibility was assessed with the Trail Making Test Part B (TMT-B), while visuomotor processing speed, as a confounder, was assessed with the Trail Making Test Part A (TMT-A). Moderated mediation models were tested within a bootstrapped multiple regression framework.

Results: TMT-A scores had no statistically significant moderation effects on the relation between representations and coping behaviour. Conversely, in those participants with SLE, TMT-B scores moderated the relation of personal control to wishful thinking and palliative coping, as well as the relation of treatment control to both wishful thinking and palliative coping. All significant effects were restricted to the SLE group.

Conclusion: Interactions between neurocognitive factors and the process of illness adaptation may emerge early during the course of SLE. The present findings highlight the role of cognitive functioning as an integral part of the illness-related self-regulation mechanism.     

Factor structure of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF-P) at age three years

The preschool period is an important developmental period for the emergence of cognitive self-regulatory skills or executive functions (EF). To date, evidence regarding the structure of EF in preschool children has supported both unitary and multicomponent models. The aim of the present study was to test the factor structure of early EF as measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version (BRIEF-P). BRIEF-P consists of five subscales and three broader indexes, hypothesized to tap into different subcomponents of EF. Parent ratings of EF from a nonreferred sample of children recruited from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (N = 1134; age range 37–47 months) were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Three theoretically derived models were assessed; the second-order three-factor model originally proposed by the BRIEF-P authors, a “true” first-order one-factor model and a second-order one-factor model. CFA fit statistics supported the original three-factor solution. However, the difference in fit was marginal between this model and the second-order one-factor model. A follow-up exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported the existence of several factors underlying EF in early preschool years, with a considerable overlap with the five BRIEF-P subscales. Our results suggest that some differentiation in EF has taken place at age 3 years, which is reflected in behavior ratings. The internal consistency of the BRIEF-P five clinical subscales is supported. Subscale interrelations may, however, differ at this age from those observed in the preschool group as a whole.     

The role of executive functions in social impairment in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by socio-communicative impairments. Executive dysfunction may explain some key characteristics of ASD, both social and nonsocial hallmarks. Limited research exists exploring the relations between executive function and social impairment in ASD and few studies have used a comparison control group. Thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate the relations between executive functioning using the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF), social impairment as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), and overall autistic symptomology as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) in children and adolescents with and without ASD. Seventy children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD and 71 typically developing controls were included in this study. Findings showed that behavioral regulation executive processes (i.e., inhibition, shifting, and emotional control) predicted social function in all children. However, metacognitive executive processes (i.e., initiation, working memory, planning, organization, and monitoring) predicted social function only in children with ASD and not in typically developing children. Our findings suggest a distinct metacognitive executive function-social symptom link in ASD that is not present in the typical population. Understanding components of executive functioning that contribute to the autistic symptomology, particularly in the socio-communicative domain, is crucial for developing effective interventions that target key executive processes as well as underlying behavioral symptoms.     

Higher cortisol is associated with poorer executive functioning in preschool children: The role of parenting stress,parent coping and quality of daycare

Child executive functions (cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, working memory) are key to success in school. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, is known to affect cognition; however, there is limited information about how child cortisol levels, parenting factors and child care context relate to executive functions in young children. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between child cortisol, parenting stress, parent coping, and daycare quality in relation to executive functions in children aged 3–5 years. We hypothesized that (1) poorer executive functioning would be related to higher child cortisol and higher parenting stress, and (2) positive daycare quality and positive parent coping style would buffer the effects of child cortisol and parenting stress on executive functions. A total of 101 children (53 girls, 48 boys, mean age 4.24 years ±0.74) with complete data on all measures were included. Three saliva samples to measure cortisol were collected at the child’s daycare/preschool in one morning. Parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version (BRIEF-P), Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) was used to measure the quality of daycare. It was found that children with poorer executive functioning had higher levels of salivary cortisol, and their parents reported higher parenting stress. However, parent coping style and quality of daycare did not modulate these relationships. Identifying ways to promote child executive functioning is an important direction for improving school readiness.     

In the Name of Culture and Religion: The Political Function of Blasphemy in Islamic States

ABSTRACT

This article argues that blasphemy laws and a cultural relativist approach to human rights have a political function in authoritarian states. Islamic states use a strong cultural relativist approach to justify their dismal human rights record. The main aim of this approach, however, is survival. The article shows how Islamic countries use religion for their own political survival purposes and how blasphemy laws are often used to silence critique of political, social and religious orders that infringe on basic human rights. From this perspective, blasphemy laws are tools of oppression, not a symbol of cultural and religious difference. By highlighting how blasphemy laws and a cultural relativist approach to religion have been used as tools of oppression by authoritarian regimes, the article underscores the importance of freedom of expression for any functioning democracy.     

The metaphysics of cognitive artefacts

This article looks at some of the metaphysical properties of cognitive artefacts. It first identifies and demarcates the target domain by conceptualizing this class of artefacts as a functional kind. Building on the work of Beth Preston, a pluralist notion of functional kind is developed, one that includes artefacts with proper functions and system functions. Those with proper functions have a history of cultural selection, whereas those with system functions are improvised uses of initially non-cognitive artefacts. Having identified the target domain, it then briefly looks at the multiple usability of physical structures and the multiple realizability of cognitive function. Further developing insights from the “dual nature of artefacts thesis”, the article ends with conceptualizing the structure–function relations of cognitive artefacts. More specifically, it unpacks the relation between physical structure, representational structure, information, and cognitive function.     

Destination and source memory in Huntington's disease

Destination memory refers to the recall of the destination of previously relayed information, and source memory refers to the recollection of the origin of received information. We compared both memory systems in Huntington's disease (HD) participants. For this, HD participants and healthy adults had to put 12 items in a black or a white box (destination task), and to extract another 12 items from a blue or a red box (source task). Afterwards, they had to decide in which box each item had previously been deposited (destination memory), and from which box each item had previously been extracted (source memory). HD participants showed poorer source as well as destination recall performance than healthy adults in the proposed tasks. Correlation analysis showed that destination recall was significantly correlated with episodic recall in HD participants. Destination memory impairment in HD participants seems to be considerably influenced by their episodic memory performance.     

基本心理能力老化的中介变量

从整合思路,针对认知老化的四个中介变量建立基本心理能力老化的结构方程模型。样本来自北京三个社区的217位60-85岁的老人。采用计算机化的任务测查五项基本心理能力和加工资源的各项指标。结果表明：(1)感觉功能、加工速度和加工容量是基本心理能力老化的重要中介变量;(2)基本心理能力老化的中介作用表现出层次性。感觉功能是最基础的一层中介作用,它通过加工速度和加工容量间接调节基本心理能力的老化;加工速度对基本心理能力老化的作用受感觉功能的影响,同时也通过加工容量对基本心理能力的老化起作用;加工容量在基本心理能力老化的中介模型中直接与基本心理能力产生联系,但是其61％的变异来自感觉功能和加工速度;(3)负启动测验与颜色词启动测验不能共同表达加工抑制,以颜色词启动值作为观测指标的加工抑制不能进入基本心理能力老化的中介模型。     

不同链接函数下多级评分认知诊断模型的比较及应用研究

认知诊断测验因具有传统测验所不具备的诊断功能而日益受到重视。当前多级评分认知诊断模型开发中,研究者采用不同的链接函数（Link Function）开发出不同的多级评分认知诊断模型。本研究基于局部或相邻类别链接函数(Local or Adjacent Categories Link Function)的思想,开发出多级评分认知诊断模型LC-DINA研究采用Monte Carlo模拟研究与实证应用研究相结合的方法,将新开发模型与已有模型进行比较并应用于国际数学与科学评估（TIMMS）中,为实际应用者提供了借鉴。