The role of cognitive flexibility and vocabulary abilities of younger and older users in searching for information on the web

The present study investigated the role of cognitive flexibility and vocabulary abilities in explaining age‐related differences in information searching with a search engine. Nineteen older and 20 younger participants had to carry out nine searches and to complete a battery of cognitive tests. Older participants obtained poorer search performance with fewer correct answers, and lower task completion speed. They interacted little with the system, and showed specific difficulties in getting out of impasses and reformulating unfruitful requests. Regression analyses suggested that age differences in the number of requests were moderated by differences in cognitive flexibility and that the older participants did not leverage their increased vocabulary in producing new keywords. The findings suggest that the age‐related decline in cognitive flexibility plays a role in the age‐related differences observed in searching for information, especially in the way users get out of impasses. The results have implications for designing search engine tools. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of semantic memory in short-term recall: effect of strategic retrieval ability in an elderly population

The present paper examines the relationship between two classic phenomena: semantic effects in short-term recall (STR) tasks, which are interpreted as indicating the involvement of long-term memory (LTM) in the functioning of short-term memory, on the one hand, and the existence of individual differences amongst elderly people in strategic retrieval ability (i.e., the ability to activate representations in LTM in a controlled way) on the other hand. Forty elderly participants completed a STR task under four different conditions which were thought to differentially involve LTM representations. Several executive functions, among which the strategic retrieval ability, were evaluated. The results showed that the participants who obtained the best performances in terms of strategic retrieval ability, and only in this executive ability, also exhibited better performances in the STR task, in particular when this task was performed under conditions which favored the use of LTM.     

The Relationship Between Religious and Psychospiritual Measures and an Inflammation Marker (CRP) in Older Adults Experiencing Life Event Stress

Journal of Religion and Health - Inflammation, often measured by C-reactive protein (CRP), is thought to be related to a number of debilitating illnesses as we age, including cardiovascular...     

Homosexuality and HIV in Africa: An Essay on Using Entertainment Education as a Vehicle for Stigma Reduction

HIV transmission in sub Saharan Africa has been consistently reported to be heterosexual. The existence of Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) has been denied and the epidemic among them ignored although homosexuality in the continent has been documented. Consequently, limited research has been conducted among Africa’s MSM. Homophobia has been reported as one of the key forces driving Africa’s epidemic because stigma and discrimination may make MSM a hard-to-reach group for HIV prevention and early treatment services. We conducted searches in journals, newspapers, UNAIDS and MSM web sites to read laws, abuse, and discrimination of MSM. We reviewed literature on entertainment education and its success in addressing social, political, and health issues worldwide in order to propose a solution to the issue. Fifty-five percent of African countries have laws against sex between men. Penalties range from fines, imprisonment, or death. Official harassments, state sponsored homophobia and threats against MSM have been documented. Stigmatization can create barriers to testing, restrict utilization of prevention programs, condom use, and failure to disclose HIV status to sexual partners. This paper suggests a communication strategy such as entertainment education to raise awareness and tolerance and to promote action in the fight against HIV/AIDS epidemic and related stigmatization among Africa’s MSM. Entertainment Education which derives from various theories can be disseminated through radio or TV and can bring behavior and social change by offering the audience an opportunity for social learning. It has been effective worldwide and examples include Grey’s Anatomy, ER, Philadelphia, Soul City, Eastenders, and the telenovela Simplemente Maria and can pave way for HIV prevention and treatment in a vulnerable population.     

Emotions in reading: Disgust, empathy and the contextual learning hypothesis

Emotion effects in reading have typically been investigated by manipulating words' emotional valence and arousal in lexical decision. The standard finding is that valence and arousal can have both facilitatory and inhibitory effects, which is hard to reconcile with current theories of emotion processing in reading. Here, we contrasted these theories with the contextual-learning hypothesis, according to which, sensitivity to a specific emotion - disgust in the present study - rather than valence or arousal affects lexical decision performance. Participants were divided into two groups (high versus low disgust sensitivity). Results showed that participants with high disgust sensitivity showed an inhibitory effect, whereas participants with low-disgust sensitivity showed a facilitatory effect. Individual differences in lexical decision performance were predicted by disgust sensitivity but not valence, arousal, or general emotion sensitivity. These findings highlight the need to focus on individual differences both in studies and theories of emotion processing in reading.