Setting the sales budget: An exploratory study

This article explores how the sales budget is set in a business organization. Findings from a longitudinal participant observation study revealed that the sales budget is considered of great importance to the organization as sales estimates serve as premises for planning of production and supply and new product developments. It was observed that the sales budget was based on a narrow, inner-directed perspective, almost looking away from important environmental driving forces such as competitors and customers. The findings also showed that individuals involved in the sales budgeting process behaved opportunistically, influencing the budgetary process and outcomes. Theoretical and normative implications are highlighted.     

记忆训练对改善少年、青年和老年人认知功能的作用

本工作采用“位置法”(method of loci)对24例少年、24例青年和22例老年被试进行了记忆训练研究。以毕生发展的观点比较认知训练对改善不同年龄人记忆的作用,进而探讨发展的认知功能储备能量的年龄差异和训练的迁移效应。结果表明认知干预措施可在一定程度上改善老年人的记忆,同时也显示了在发展的储能和对图形的迁移效应方面,老年人明显不如青、少年,而青年与少年则彼此相近。     

Working with patients with disruptions in symbolic capacity1

This article focuses on understanding and working with patients who have poorly developed symbolic capacity, or for whom symbolic capacity has been disrupted due to trauma, particularly as it pertains to the use of reverie and interpretation in the analytic process. Many patients who present for Jungian analysis will initially present with deficits in symbolic functioning. This situation results in necessary limitations or modifications in utilizing traditional Jungian techniques such as dream analysis, active imagination, sand tray and other expressive art techniques. The initial phase of analytic work with these patients requires a focus on developing their symbolic capacity before traditional Jungian techniques can be utilized effectively. During the paper Jung's concept of ‘the symbolic attitude’ will be examined as well as the conceptual models of Wilfred Bion and other post-Bionians who outline theories and method for cultivating symbolic capacity and reflective functioning in patients for whom these capacities are impaired or poorly developed.     

Context-dependent shifts in self-regulatory personality processes during COVID-19: Changes in control predict dynamic shifts in goal reengagement capacity

The ability to reengage with new attainable goals after major setbacks is a core self-regulatory trait linked to health and well-being. Yet little is known about the extent to which such goal reengagement capacities may shift over time in response to changing contextual circumstances. Using a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults aged 18–80 (n = 293), the present 1-year study examined whether changes in opportunity to influence life circumstances (perceived control) were coupled with dynamic shifts in goal reengagement capacity for individuals who differed in their levels of control at pandemic onset. Results from multilevel models showed that within-person increases in perceived control during the pandemic predicted corresponding within-person increases in goal reengagement capacity. Moderation models showed that the positive within-person association between perceived control and goal reengagement was pronounced for individuals with lower levels of control at pandemic onset who may be particularly sensitive to periods of opportunity to pursue new attainable goals. Findings inform theories of personality and self-regulation in pointing to contextual circumstances under which goal reengagement capacity exhibits dynamic shifts in populations who differ in their perceived opportunities for control.     

Reflections on segregating and assessing areas of competence

Various complexities that arise in the application of legal and/or clinical criteria to the actual assessment of competence/capacity are discussed, and a particular way of understanding the nature of such criteria is recommended.     

年龄、作业难度和训练对成人记忆的影响

采用“联想学习”、“图象自由回忆”和“附加联想”三项目,对９０例成人（分为青年、老年和老老年组各３０例）进行记忆测查和训练,目的为探讨年龄,作业难度和训练对记忆的影响。结果表明：青年组记忆成绩明显高于老年和老老年组,后两组无显著差异;无关联想的年龄差异大于有关联想,作业难度扩大了年龄差异;各年龄组训练后记忆得到明显改善,并且训练扩大了年龄和作业易难的差异。由此可见,记忆受年龄、作业难度和训练三因素的相互作用,也再次证实了老年认知功能具有一定的可塑性。     

How a high working memory capacity can increase proactive interference

Previous findings suggested that a high working memory capacity (WMC) is potentially associated with a higher susceptibility to proactive interference (PI) if the latter is measured under high cognitive load. To explain such a finding, we propose to consider susceptibility to PI as a net effect of individual executive processes and the intrinsic potential for PI. With the latter, we refer to the amount of information that is activated at a given time and that has the potential to exert PI subsequently. In two studies deploying generalized linear mixed models, susceptibility to PI was modeled as the decline of performance over trials of a complex span task. The results revealed that a higher WMC was associated with a higher susceptibility to PI. Moreover, the number of stimuli recalled in one trial as a proxy variable for the intrinsic potential for PI negatively affected memory performance in the subsequent trial.     

Resilience of children in disasters: A multisystem perspective

Interest in resilience is surging in research, policy and practice as threats from disasters rise and humanity confronts a global pandemic. This commentary highlights the importance of defining resilience for portability across system levels and disciplines in order to integrate knowledge and prepare adequately for the challenges posed to children and youth by multisystem disasters. A scalable definition of resilience is recommended: The capacity of a dynamic system to adapt successfully to challenges that threaten the function, survival or development of the system. Major determinants of adaptation among young people in the context of disaster are highlighted, including variations in adversity exposure dose, developmental timing, individual differences and the socio-ecological systems of children's lives that can be mobilised in response. Adaptation of children in disasters depends on the resilience of interconnected systems, including families, schools, communities and policy sectors. Implications of a multisystem perspective for disaster risk reduction and preparedness are discussed with a focus on nurturing the resilience of children and their societies for challenges in the near term and long into the future.     

音乐训练对大学生执行功能的影响

近年来大量研究发现音乐训练对认知能力的具有积极影响,一些理论认为音乐训练的广泛迁移效应是通过执行功能起中介作用,但音乐训练与执行功能的关系至今仍存争议。研究将执行功能分为抑制控制、工作记忆和认知灵活性三个子成分,并将抑制控制进一步细分为注意抑制和反应抑制,同时区分工作记忆中主动性控制和反应性控制两种认知过程。通过对比音乐组和控制组在执行功能各任务（Go/No-go, Stroop, AX-CPT, Task-switching）上的行为表现来系统考察音乐训练与执行功能的关系。结果表明音乐训练对执行功能不同子成分的影响具有差异性,其促进效应主要体现在抑制控制中的注意抑制和工作记忆中的主动性控制,对抑制控制中的反应抑制、工作记忆中的反应性控制和认知灵活性影响较小。     

Traumatic Brain Injury as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer's Disease: A Review

Accumulating epidemiological evidence implicates traumatic brain injury as a pathogenic agent in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Considering the increase in the prevalence of both traumatic brain injury and AD in recent times, the possibility that brain trauma may provoke the early development of AD has important implications for health service planning, preventative efforts, and medico-legal compensation settlements. This paper evaluates the plausibility of the proposed link between traumatic brain injury and AD, largely by way of exploring a theoretical perspective advanced by Satz (1993) and considering recent contributions from the epidemiological, neuropathological, and biochemical literature that are pertinent to this issue. The literature reviewed provides sufficient support and empirical vindication to give credence to the proposed association between these two neuropsychological entities at the statistical, theoretical, and biological level.