Relationship between field dependence-independence and the g factor: What can problem-solving strategies tell us?

IntroductionField dependence-independence (FDI) has been the focus of a great deal of research. However, it is generally studied in relation to either personality or the g factor, with far fewer studies of the interconnections between FDI, the g factor and problem-solving strategies.ObjectiveOur first aim was to study the relationship between FDI and the g factor. Our second was to explain this relationship by analysing problem-solving strategies.MethodOne hundred and seventy 14-year-old performed three tests: the GEFT, the D-70, and a second, prototype g-factor test that enabled us to identify which strategies they used.ResultsResults confirmed the classic link between FDI and the g factor, and attributed this link to greater use of the most efficient strategies.     

An approach to novice driver training

IntroductionBased upon neuroscience findings relevant to emerging adults, this paper considers 12 cognitive and behavioural features of young drivers’ performance and possible ameliorative strategies to address them.Literature findingsEvidence is explored on the extent to which each has been identified and evaluated in respect of young driver training and education in driving performance. The paper considers the extent to which each of these contributions to young driver safety is feasible and has been adopted, identifying those for which further development and implementation is required.DiscussionBased upon neuroscience findings as well as the evidence summarised in this paper, it concludes with an outline of an –“ideal”– training program for young novice drivers.     

Conflit d’intérêts et déontologies : l’échec des déontologies existantes et l’improbable (?) succès de la loi

The increasing frequency with which health scandals have come to light since the 1980s has uncovered a great deal of unlawful behavior, both in the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession, as well as in the world of “experts” (or researchers), along with journalists and specialist media companies. These types of behavior have accumulated and combined to inhibit any reaction from government, thus preventing health policy from playing its role. The State has its share of responsibility in this failure, for having been unable to conserve the impartiality and effectiveness of its administrative actions: it must acknowledge this, which is a whole other problem. However, in the case in point, it is obvious that those texts which must have been breached to allow these health scandals to occur are almost exclusively the result of professional self-regulation, with a wide range of diverse legal values: ethics for the health professions, journalistic ethics, charters between the pharmaceutical industry and media companies, alongside scientific ethical charters. These texts are the result of regulations generated by the professions themselves, drafted to counteract conflicts of interest. The sheer number of cases highlights the failure of these self-regulatory measures, leading to legislation targeting the problem, in particular that of December 29, 2011, which strengthened monitoring in terms of conflicts of interest and penalties against those placing themselves in a conflict of interest situation. Will this legislation, in direct response to the so-called Mediator^® case, be able to succeed where self-regulation failed, swept away as it was by financial considerations? The arbitrations that characterized the drafting of this legislation and the resulting complexity, which affects the decrees, seem to promise many difficulties, particularly due to the scarcity of resources the authorities have to enforce it.     

Research into therapists’ perceptions of therapeutic change using vignettes and aMSN messenger

This article describes a research approach to investigating the ways in which therapists understand the nature of therapeutic change. The research was based in qualitative, narrative approaches to in-depth analysis of vignettes provided by drama therapists. The article describes the approach to the generation of data through the internet by aMSN messenger. It reports on the approach taken to the analysis of data along with samples from the findings.     

‘The experiencing of experience’: a Pragmatic reassessment of Rogerian Phenomenology

This paper draws on a study that asked twenty family users about their first session of family therapy. Analyses of the interviews indicated that families entered therapy with a pre-existent knowledge about therapy, which did not always chime with those of professionals and which positioned speakers in ways which governed their expectations and perceptions of therapy. This paper, therefore, is concerned with the acquisition and deployment of knowledge: specifically, the knowledge involved in being a user of family therapy. Three key discourses were identified through this analysis: medical, counselling and consumerist. We aim to illustrate how these discourses served as a resource for members of the family in constructing therapists, therapy and themselves in relation to their experience. The examination of the rhetorical, ideological and practical effects of the positions chosen and the objects constructed, in terms of how speakers wanted to present themselves, with what enhanced or diminished status as patients, shows users actively engaging with the power of therapeutic institutions. Users’ accounts suggest that while most speakers felt anxious about the prospect of therapy, there were clear differences in overall satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the experience according to the synchrony between speakers’ construction of the therapist, and themselves as client/patients. Those who seemed to take a traditional view of therapy within a medical discourse valued therapists who offered diagnosis and a cure; those who sought and experienced a counselling relationship with the therapist found their experience to be constructive in terms of enhanced self-knowledge. We believe that the research findings discussed in this paper have implications for family therapists in accommodating to parental and child positions to maximise the effectiveness of therapy and so minimise drop-out.     

Effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy and Aging on Cognition: Evidence for Executive Dysfunction

ABSTRACT

The present study was designed to explore whether the frontal lobe hypothesis of cognitive aging may be extended to describe the cognitive effects associated with estrogen use in postmenopausal women. Postmenopausal estrogen-only users, estrogen + progesterone users, and non-users (60–80 years old), as well as young, regularly cycling women (18–30 years old) completed an item and source memory task. Since source memory is thought to rely more on executive processes than item memory, we hypothesized that aging and estrogen effects would be greater for source memory than for item memory. Neuropsychological tests explored whether the effects of aging and estrogen use were revealed on other tests of frontal lobe function. Results from the experimental task revealed greater aging and estrogen effects for source memory than for item memory, and neuropsychological results revealed aging and estrogen effects on a subset of tests of executive function. Women on estrogen + progesterone therapy did not outperform non-users, suggesting that the addition of progesterone to hormone therapy may mitigate the benefits induced by estrogen use alone. Overall, findings support the hypothesis that estrogen use may temper age-related cognitive decline by helping to maintain functions subserved by the frontal lobes.     

Age- and education-adjusted normative data for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in older adults age 70–99

The original validation study for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) suggests a cutoff score of 26; however, this may be too stringent for older adults, particularly for those with less education. Given the rapidly increasing number of older adults and associated risk of dementia, this study aims to provide appropriate age- and education-adjusted norms for the MoCA. Data from 205 participants in an ongoing longevity study were used to derive normative data. Individuals were grouped based on age (70–79, 80–89, 90–99) and education level (≤12 Years, 13–15, ≥16 Years). There were significant differences between age and education groups with younger and more educated participants outperforming their counterparts. Forty-six percent of our sample scored below the suggested cutoff of 26. These normative data may provide a more accurate representation of MoCA performance in older adults for specific age and education stratifications.     

La communauté de pratique : au carrefour des notions de groupe informel et de transmission des savoirs tacites

The results of a field study confirm what the most important research in knowledge management reveals about communities of practice in organizations. If one accepts that the essence of a community of practice is found in its informal nature and its transmission of tacit knowledge, one observes that it is within informal groups that one finds individuals in the best position to convey tacit knowledge. The community of practice would therefore seem to act as a sort of catalyst in the transmission of tacit knowledge.     

La qualité de vie au travail dans les services de ressources humaines

This research looks at work well-being for human resources staffs, which are brought to manage relations between individuals and organization, between organization and society, between individuals and society. 263 human resources staffs performed a questionnaire estimating work facets such professionals satisfaction and commitment, work conditions and health. Results shown firstly a work quality of life for staffs, what does not prevent them from reporting hardness (temporal constraints, working overload), secondly the absence of systematic effects of status, age and gender on work attitudes and health. Results and futur works are discussed.