Effects of domain knowledge,working memory capacity,and age on cognitive performance: an investigation of the knowledge-is-power hypothesis

Domain knowledge facilitates performance in many cognitive tasks. However, very little is known about the interplay between domain knowledge and factors that are believed to reflect general, and relatively stable, characteristics of the individual. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the interplay between domain knowledge and one such factor: working memory capacity. Adults from wide ranges of working memory capacity, age, and knowledge about the game of baseball listened to, and then answered questions about, simulated radio broadcasts of baseball games. There was a strong facilitative effect of preexisting knowledge of baseball on memory performance, particularly for information judged to be directly relevant to the baseball games. However, there was a positive effect of working memory capacity on memory performance as well, and there was no indication that domain knowledge attenuated this effect. That is, working memory capacity contributed to memory performance even at high levels of domain knowledge. Similarly, there was no evidence that domain knowledge attenuated age-related differences (favoring young adults) in memory performance. We discuss implications of the results for understanding proficiency in cognitive domains from an individual-differences perspective.     

Medicine and pharmacy — facts and myths about the development of an innovative pharmaceutical industry in Poland

Innovation is fundamental to the pharmaceutical industry and a key to improvements in healthcare. Its effectiveness depends on huge, constant investments in research. This innovative industry directly affects the course of studies in healthcare and medicine. Its efforts translate directly into the length and quality of our lives. For several years now, the progress underway in pharmaceutical industry has produced measurable benefits. Doctors have new pharmaceuticals at their disposal, including many types of antibiotics and anti-viral drugs, vaccines and a wide range of drugs which save lives or make them more comfortable. In the near future, ever more efficient cures for neoplastic, rheumatic, neurological, psychic, metabolic, circulatory or respiratory diseases can be expected. Innovation is necessary. The human population is ageing, and the task of an innovative pharmaceutical industry is to keep it in a good condition. The use of innovative drugs can translate directly into lowering the costs of illness. A continuous reduction in spending on healthcare has been observed. The costs of inventing an innovative drug are enormous though (US$ 800 million), and studies on a new drug last between 10 and 13 years. An essential element in recovering the incurred costs and ensuring funds needed for new research is protection by patent. Innovative pharmaceutical companies in Poland are committed to increasing the competitiveness and sustaining the development of not only the market, but also the entire pharmaceutical sector. It is a group of companies of crucial importance to the Polish healthcare system, as it influences improvement in the quality of medical services. Through their investments and spending on research and development, innovative companies accelerate economic growth. In Poland, the innovative pharmaceutical industry is represented by the Association of Pharmaceutical Companies Representatives in Poland (SPFFwP). An earlier version of this paper was presented at an international conference, “The Ethics of Intellectual Property Rights and Patents,” held in Warsaw, Poland on 23–24 April, 2004.     

Segmentation and Selection of Appropriate Chinese Characters in Writing Place Names in Japanese

This paper explores the relation between an unknown place name written in hiragana (a Japanese syllabary) and its corresponding written representation in kanji (Chinese characters). We propose three principles as those operating in the selection of the appropriate Chinese characters in writing unknown place names. The three principles are concerned with the combination of on and kun readings (zyuubako-yomi), the number of segmentations, and the bimoraicity characteristics of kanji chosen. We performed two experiments to test the principles; the results supported our hypotheses. These results have some implications for the structure of the Japanese mental lexicon, for the processing load in the use of Chinese characters, and for Japanese prosody and morphology.     

Quintilian and the Pedagogy of Argument

Originating in the Sophistic pedagogy of Protagoras and reflecting the sceptical practice of the New Academy, Quintilian's rhetorical pedagogy places a special emphasis on the juxtaposition of multiple, competing claims. This inherently dialogical approach to argumentation is referred to here as controversia and is on full display in Quintilian's own argumentative practice. More important to this paper, however, is the role of controversia as an organizing principle for Quintilian's rhetorical curriculum. In particular, Quintilian introduces the protocols of controversia through a series of progressively more complex exercises in imitation, role-playing, and declamation (now referred to as situational games). All of these exercises are open for adaptation by contemporary teachers who would promote a dialogical approach to argument, i.e. argument with its methods of inquiry, invention, and judgment based on direct interaction with opposing parties.     

养老院老人社会支持网络和生活满意度研究

本研究所用问卷的编制参照了《中国心理卫生评定量表手册》中的PASS、GWB和社会支持评定等量表。以企了解上海市区养老院老人的社会支持网络状况及其与生活满意度之间的关系。研究表明：(1)养老院老人的社会支持与其生活满意度之间存在极其显著的相关;(2)经回归分析,影响养老院老人生活满意度的最主要因素是养老院的软硬件设施条件与院中老人之间的相互支持;但在生病等特殊状况下,子女仍是最主要的支持来源;(3)对养老院中的老人来说,精神支持的需求比物质支持和认知支持更重要。     

New challenges for professional counsellors: The higher education international student population

Using a 50-item, self-report questionnaire, 640 international students enrolled at an urban university campus provided needs assessment data based on the geographical region of their country of origin. Additionally, the students’ perceptions regarding changes they experienced since coming to the United States are also reported. The authors conclude with a discussion of the study's implications for professional counsellors in higher education. Recommendations are proffered for the mental health services and programs needed by this special population of students based on the information obtained from the investigation.     

对中医审查病机的体会

在诺贝尔生理学或医学奖105年的历史中,美国分别占了颁奖年度的52.08%,获奖成果的44.87%,获奖人数的48.91%。形成这些科学家学术优势积累和美国国家科技竞争优势的学术条件背景是:适宜的宏观政策,充足的经费投入,成功的人才政策,根本的教育改革和创新的科技管理。     

干扰、工作记忆与一般流体智力

工作记忆与复杂认知任务之间的关系已成为工作记忆研究领域的热点问题。大量研究表明,工作记忆广度不仅是评价工作记忆能力的一种指标,而且也是衡量一个人的高级认知能力的预报因子。本文从工作记忆的本质以及工作记忆与一般流体智力之问的关系人手,分析了干扰不仅是影响工作记忆容量个体差异的关键因素,而且也在工作记忆与一般流体智力的关系中起着重要的影响作用。     

The analyst's countertransference when supervising: friend or foe?

This paper explores transference and countertransference dynamics in the supervisory relationship and their impact on the task of supervision. The development of analytic theory in relation to supervision is described and the value-and ambiguity-of the concepts of 'mirroring', 'parallel process' and 'reflective process' are discussed. The impact of organizational dynamics on the supervisory relationship is investigated in relation to four main unconscious forces: a) organizational defences, b) power and authority, c) accountability and responsibility, d) ethical concerns. Clinical situations which illustrate these issues are described and explored and used as a basis for examining the role of the supervisor's countertransference in supervision. The different framework of practice in supervision, as opposed to analysis, is described in terms of its focus, the supervisor's ways of responding and the dynamic process, and the concept of refracted countertransference is introduced and explained.     

‘Ideal learning’ of natural language: Positive results about learning from positive evidence

Gold's [1967. Language identification in the limit. Information and Control, 16, 447-474] celebrated work on learning in the limit has been taken, by many cognitive scientists, to have powerful negative implications for the learnability of language from positive data (i.e., from mere exposure to linguistic input). This provides one, of several, lines of argument that language acquisition must draw on other sources of information, including innate constraints on learning. We consider an ‘ideal learner’ that applies a Simplicity Principle to the problem of language acquisition. The Simplicity Principle chooses the hypothesis that provides the briefest representation of the available data—here, the data are the linguistic input to the child. The Simplicity Principle allows learning from positive evidence alone, given quite weak assumptions, in apparent contrast to results on language learnability in the limit (e.g., Gold, 1967). These results provide a framework for reconsidering the learnability of various aspects of natural language from positive evidence, which has been at the center of theoretical debate in research on language acquisition and linguistics.