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Poverty impedes children's executive function (EF). Therefore, it is necessary to mitigate the negative effect of poverty by developing efficient interventions to improve poor children's cognitive function. In three studies, we examined whether high‐level construals can improve EF among poor children in China. In Study 1, we observed a positive relationship between family socioeconomic status and children's EF, which was moderated by construal level (n = 206; Mage = 9.71; 45.6% girls). In Study 2a, we experimentally induced high‐ versus low‐level construals and found that poor children with high‐level construals exhibited better EF than those with low‐level construals (n = 65; Mage = 11.32; 47.7% girls). However, the same intervention did not affect the performance of affluent children in Study 2b (n = 63; Mage = 10.54; 54% girls). Moreover, we found that the interventional effects of high‐level construals improved the ability of children living in poverty to make healthy decisions and delayed gratification in Study 3 (n = 74; Mage = 11.10; 45.9% girls). These findings may have implications for using high‐level construals as an effective intervention to improve poor children's EF and cognitive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the effects of active workstation use on the executive function by measuring the three components of executive function (Inhibition, Updating, and Shifting) during sitting, standing, and walking at an active workstation with different speeds. Twenty-four college students completed a cognitive test battery while sitting, standing, walking on an active workstation with a self-selected speed (mean = 2.3 km/h) and a faster speed (mean = 3.5 km/h). The three components of executive function (Inhibition, Updating, and Shifting) were assessed by Stroop task, N-back task, More-odd shifting task, respectively. Performance of each task was determined by the response time and accuracy. Repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted with workstation condition and trial type as within-subjects factors. There were no significant main effects for workstation condition and no interaction between workstation condition × trial type in Stroop task and More-odd shifting task. There was a significant main effect for workstation condition (F (3, 69) = 4.029, p = 0.011) and interaction effect between workstation condition × trial type (F (6, 138) = 9.371, p < 0.001) in N-back task. Decomposition of the interaction showed that accuracy of 2-back task in self-paced walking was significantly lower than that in sitting condition (p = 0.017) and in standing condition (p < .001). But there was no difference in accuracy of 2-back task between self-paced walking condition and faster walking condition (p = 0.517). Our results suggest that using an active workstation may have a selective impact on three components of executive function, in which the Updating may be impaired to a certain extent while the Inhibition and Shifting remain unaffected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractFrontal and basal ganglia infarcts and executive dysfunction are thought to be involved in the pathophysiology of poststroke emotional incontinence (PSEI). The study examined whether patients with PSEI have more frontal and/or basal ganglia infarcts and impairment in executive function. A total of 516 Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke consecutively admitted to the acute stroke unit of a university-affiliated regional hospital in Hong Kong were screened for PSEI 3 months after the index stroke. According to Kim?s criteria, 39 (7.6%) had PSEI. Thirty-nine stroke patients without PSEI served as matched control group. The PSEI group had significantly more frontal and/or basal ganglia infarcts, had lower Chinese Frontal Assessment Battery scores, required more time to complete the Stroop Test, and made more omission and commission errors in the Go?NoGo test. There was no significant correlation between frontal or basal ganglia infarcts and executive function. The correlation between frontal infarct and severity of PSEI was .420. Further follow-up and functional imaging studies are warranted to explore the relationship between PSEI, brain infarcts, and executive dysfunction. (JINS, 2009, 15, 62?68.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to examine social attribution in children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger's syndrome (AS). A sample of 20 boys (9 with HFA and 11 with AS) and 20 age-matched controls were recruited for this study. All participated in two tasks measuring social attribution ability, the conventional Social Attribution Task (SAT) and a modified version with animals rather than shapes (mSAT). They also completed a battery of neuropsychological tests. Compared to typically developing controls, children with autism spectrum disorders were impaired on some measures in both SATs. However, group differences in "theory-of-mind" indices were only significant in the mSAT, with the ASD group performing more poorly than controls. In addition, the scores in person index of both versions of the SAT correlated with executive function in children with HFA/AS. The current study found the mSAT paradigm was especially sensitive to ToM difficulties in young Chinese children with HFA/AS. Social attribution in children with HFA/AS, unlike neurotypical children, was related to executive function ability, suggesting these psychological domains are not distinct in children with autism spectrum disorders. (Contains 5 tables.)

Background: Vascular cognitive impairment, no dementia (VCIND) refers to cognitive deficits associated with underlying vascular causes that fall short of a dementia diagnosis. There is currently no treatment for VCIND. Computerized cognitive training, which has significantly improved cognitive function in healthy older adults and patients with cognitive impairment has not yet been applied to VCIND.Methods/design: The proposed study is a three-center, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial that will include 60 patients with VCIND. The patients will be randomized to either a training or a control group. The intervention is internet-based cognitive training performed for 30 min over 35 sessions. Neuropsychological assessment and functional and structural MRI will be performed before and after 7 weeks training. Primary outcomes are global cognitive function and executive function. Secondary outcome measures are neuroplasticity changes measured by functional and structural MRI.Discussion: Applying an internet-based, multi-domain, adaptive program, this study aims to assess whether cognitive training improves cognitive abilities and neural plasticity in patients with subcortical VCIND. In addition to the comprehensive assessment of the participants by neuropsychological tests, cerebrovascular risk factors and apolipoprotein E genotyping, neuroplasticity will be used as an evaluation outcome in this study for, to our knowledge, the first time. The combination of functional and structural MRI and neuropsychological tests will have strong sensitivity in evaluating the effects of cognitive training and will also reveal the underlying mechanisms at work.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02640716 . Retrospectively registered on 21 December 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mandarin-speaking preschoolers in Mainland China (3- to 4-year-olds; N= 192) were tested for dissociations between anticipatory looking (AL) and verbal judgments on false-belief tasks. The dissociation between the two kinds of understanding was robust despite direct false-belief test questions using a Mandarin specific think-falsely verb and despite participants living in a culture that promotes early self-control. Children showed coherent AL across different belief-formation scenarios. Manipulation of inhibitory demand in the false-belief task did not affect preschoolers' verbal judgments any more than their AL, and yet separate measures executive function correlated only with direct judgments and not looking responses. The findings are discussed in terms of an implicit-explicit cognitive systems account of false-belief understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affective empathy is generally considered an important inhibitor of aggression. However, the meta-analysis studies on the relationship between affective empathy and aggression have challenged this common-sense view and found no substantial correlation between the two variables. We proposed a double-edged sword model to explain this counterintuitive phenomenon and tested this model by establishing an inconsistent mediation model. A total of 663 college students in China (59.1% female; Mage = 20.69 years) completed questionnaires measuring affective empathy, sympathy, personal distress, anger proneness, and physical aggression. The results showed that on the one hand, affective empathy can indirectly inhibit physical aggression by increasing sympathy; on the other hand, affective empathy can indirectly promote physical aggression through the serial mediation of personal distress and anger proneness. Such two pathways offset each other, leading to an insignificant relation observation between affective empathy and physical aggression. The findings revealed the complexity of the relationship between affective empathy and aggression, which suggested that more efforts to reduce aggression should be made to develop individuals' sympathy, while affective empathy training should be moderate to avoid excessive empathic emotional arousal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SLC1A2 is reported to be responsible for the majority of glutamate uptake, which has a crucial role in neural development and synaptic plasticity, and a disturbance in glutamatergic transmission has been suggested to be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia (SCZ) and cognition. To evaluate the relationship of common variants within SLC1A2 with SCZ and cognition in Han Chinese, 28 tag SNPs were genotyped in the discovery stage, which included 1117 cases and 2289 controls; significantly associated markers were genotyped in the replication stage with 2128 cases and 3865 controls. The rs4354668 SNP was identified to be significantly associated with SCZ in both datasets, and a similar pattern was also observed in the two-stage study on conducting imputation and haplotype association analyses. In addition, significant associations between the rs4354668 SNP and cognition were observed when processing the perseverative error of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in patients and controls. Our results provide supportive evidence for an effect of SLC1A2 on the etiology of SCZ, suggesting that genetic variation (rs4354668 and its haplotypes) in SLC1A2 may be involved in impaired executive function, which adds to the current body of knowledge regarding the risk of SCZ and the impairment of cognitive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research focuses on the application of positive psychology theory, and studies the educational utility of national films by using deep learning (DL) algorithm. As an art form leading China's film and TV industry, national films have attracted the interest of many domestic scholars. Meanwhile, researchers have employed various science and technologies to conduct in-depth research on national films to improve film artistic levels and EDU-UTL. Accordingly, this paper comprehensively studies the EDU-UTL of national films using quality learning (Q-Learning) combined with DL algorithms and educational psychology. Then, a deep Q-Learning psychological model is proposed based on the convolutional neural network (CNN). Specifically, the CNN uses the H-hop matrix to represent each node, and each hop indicates the neighborhood information. The experiment demonstrates that CNN has a good effect on local feature acquisition, and the representation ability of the obtained nodes is also powerful. When K = 300, the psychological factor Recall of Probability Matrix Decomposition Factorization, Collaborative DL, Stack Denoising Automatic Encoder, and CNN-based deep Q-Learning algorithm is 0.35, 0.71, 0.76, and 0.78, respectively. The results suggest that CNN-based deep Q-Learning psychological model can enhance the EDU-UTL of national films and improve the efficiency of film education from the Positive Psychology perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Cognitive deficits are common after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH), and clinical evaluation is important for their management. Our hypothesis was that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCa) is superior to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in screening for cognitive domain deficit in aSAH patients. Methods: We carried out a prospective observational and diagnostic accuracy study on Hong Kong aSAH patients aged 21 to 75 years who had been admitted within 96 hours of ictus. The domain-specific neuropsychological assessment battery, the MoCA and MMSE were administered 2–4 weeks and 1 year after ictus. A cognitive domain deficit was defined as a cognitive domain z score <−1.65 (below the fifth percentile). Cognitive impairment was defined as two or more cognitive domain deficits. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov of the US National Institutes of Health (NCT01038193). Results: Both the MoCA and the MMSE were successful in differentiating between patients with and without cognitive domain deficits and cognitive impairment at both assessment periods. At 1 year post-ictus, the MoCA produced higher area under the curve scores for cognitive impairment than the MMSE (MoCA, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.83 to 0.97 versus MMSE, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.83, p = 0.009). Interpretation: Cognitive domain deficits and cognitive impairment in patients with aSAH can be screened with the MoCA in both the subacute and chronic phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To investigate the relationship between changes in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) core symptoms and changes in academic outcome of Asian children treated with atomoxetine. Methods. This open-label study enrolled patients aged 8--11 years with DSM-IV-TR-defined ADHD, who were naïïve to ADHD medications and met the symptomatic severity threshold of 1.5 standard deviations above the age and gender norm for the ADHDRS-IV-Parent:Inv (ADHDRS) total score. Data collection occurred for 24 weeks and included academic outcome, measured by the school grade average (SGA). Results. Of 228 patients enrolled from China ( n == 82), Taiwan ( n == 76), and Korea ( n == 70), 77.2% completed the study. Statistically significant ( P < 0.001) baseline to last observation improvements in ADHDRS and SGA scores were observed. However, no linear correlation between change in ADHDRS total score and SGA (−−0.083, P == 0.293) was observed. Conclusions. Despite significant independent improvements in core ADHD symptoms and academic grades over 24 weeks, the mean improvements observed in these measures did not appear to be correlated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preschoolers' theory-of-mind development follows a similar age trajectory across many cultures. To determine whether these similarities are related to similar underlying ontogenetic processes, we examined whether the relation between theory of mind and executive function commonly found among U.S. preschoolers is also present among Chinese preschoolers. Preschoolers from Beijing, China ( N= 109), were administered theory-of-mind and executive-functioning tasks, and their performance was compared with that of a previously studied sample of U.S. preschoolers ( N= 107). The Chinese preschoolers outperformed their U.S. counterparts on all measures of executive functioning, but were not similarly advanced in theory-of-mind reasoning. Nonetheless, individual differences in executive functioning predicted theory of mind for children in both cultures. Thus, the relation between executive functioning and theory of mind is robust across two disparate cultures. These findings shed light on why executive functioning is important for theory-of-mind development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This study examines the longitudinal relationships between retrospective reports of early-life social relationships (i.e. having good friends, parent–child relationship quality, and childhood neighborhood social cohesion) and episodic memory in China. Methods We analyzed 2 waves of data (2011 and 2015) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The analytical sample included 9,285 respondents aged 45 and older at baseline. A lagged dependent variable approach was used to estimate the associations between measures of early-life social relationships and episodic memory change at the study's 4-year follow-up. Results Retrospective reports of better early-life social relationships are significantly associated with higher levels of episodic memory performance in 2015 among middle-aged and older Chinese, controlling for episodic memory in 2011, childhood socioeconomic status, adulthood sociodemographic variables, and the history of stroke. Educational attainment accounts for a significant portion of the associations between early-life social relationships and episodic memory. In contrast, mental health and social engagement in adulthood account for a small part of these associations. Discussion The findings suggest that positive early-life social relationships are beneficial for episodic memory in mid- and late life, and more research is needed to examine the underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many rural-to-urban migrant adolescents experience adversity and are vulnerable to emotional problems. Previous studies on migrant adolescents focused on the impact of a single type of risk exposure. The cumulative risk approach considers a number of risk factors, providing a new perspective for investigating the living environment of individuals exposed to multiple risks simultaneously. The current study examined the relationship between cumulative risk and hopelessness among rural-to-urban migrant adolescents and the potential protective roles of stress mindset and subjective social mobility on this relationship. A total of 251 Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents aged 10 to 14 completed a series of self-reported questionnaires. The results showed that adolescents exposed to more risk factors simultaneously faced a higher risk of hopelessness. For those with a stress-is-enhancing mindset or the belief in the possibility of upward social mobility, the link between cumulative risk and hopelessness was nonsignificant. When the two moderators were considered simultaneously, only subjective social mobility acted as a moderator. The findings showed that both the stress-is-enhancing mindset and subjective social mobility may act as protective variables to decrease the negative influence of adverse circumstances on Chinese migrant adolescents, but the effect of the latter is stable. The practical implications for promoting the development of disadvantaged adolescents are discussed. Highlights: Migrant adolescents exposed to more risk factors experienced more hopelessness. Stress mindset and subjective social mobility acted as moderators between cumulative risk and hopelessness. Subjective social mobility was a valuable protective factor to reduce hopelessness among disadvantaged adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence of the association between marital status and cognitive function in Chinese older adults is limited. Aims: To examine the relationship between marital status and cognitive function and to explore the role of gender amongst older adults from three Chinese communities. Methods: A total of 1376 participants aged 60 years or over were included in this cross-sectional study. Cognitive function was assessed using the Chinese version of the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). Marital status and other variables were collected using a standardized questionnaire. Multiple linear regression models were used to examine associations between marital statuses and cognitive function amongst the target population. The moderating role of gender in these potential associations has also been explored. Results: In univariate linear regression models, compared to being married, both being widowed (β [95% CI]: −1.46[−2.78 to − 0.13]) and being single (β [95% CI]: − 4.88[−6.43 to − 3.38]) were associated with lower MMSE scores. After adjustment for confounding factors, the significant association of being widowed with MMSE scores disappeared (β [95% CI: − 0.08[− 1.04 to 0.86]), but the association of being single with MMSE scores still existed (β [95% CI]: − 1.87[− 3.17 to − 0.58]). Furthermore, the association of being single with MMSE scores was statistically significant in men (β [95% CI]: − 5.25[− 7.17 to − 3.33]) but not in women (β [95% CI: 0.88[− 0.87 to 2.64]). Discussion and conclusions: Being single was associated with poorer cognitive function compared with their married counterparts in older Chinese men but not in women. More preventive measurements should be implemented for single men to reduce or delay cognitive decline. This is particularly important in the context of an aging population in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional stage of cognitive function between normal aging and dementia. Substantial variations in the prevalence of MCI in different countries have been studied including China. In this study, we established a prediction system to assess the risk of MCI among the elderly in China. Methods: The Rothman-Keller model was conducted on the basis of the risk factors of MCI obtained by the combined results of a meta-analysis. The accuracy of the model was verified using actual population data. Results: A total of 1826 subjects as a verification set were enrolled in this study in February 2019. There were statistically significant differences in the combined results of 10 risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, educational level, hyperlipidemia, smoking, physical exercise, living alone, stroke, drinking and heart disease (P<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of the actual data and the predictive results of this model was 0.859 (95%CI: 0.812–0.906, P<0.05), the sensitivity was 86.6% and the specificity was 76.5%. Conclusions: This model performs an effective prediction that may be applied to the primary prevention for patients with MCI, helping to reduce the risk of MCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aimed to investigate whether the expected association between parent–child cultural orientation gaps and externalizing problems was moderated by impulse control (IC) among Chinese early adolescents in immigrant families. Ninety-one first- and second-generation Chinese immigrant youths (58% girls) aged between 11 and 13 years and their parents completed independent measures of mainstream and heritage cultural orientations. IC was evaluated via a computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task, while externalizing problems were assessed via parental report. Regression analyses indicated that low levels of IC represented a risk factor for externalizing adjustment among early adolescents who were less oriented toward the mainstream culture than their parents. In addition, high levels of IC were protective for early adolescents who were less oriented toward their heritage culture than their parents. The findings suggest that IC plays an important role in Chinese early adolescents' behavioral adjustment. Implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory self-ratings are often used in primary care practice and social surveys due to its relative ease of administration. Yet their usefulness to accurately measure individuals' memory-related cognitive function is largely unknown. This article assesses the construct validity of self-rated memory for measuring memory-related cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults (45+ years) in China using a national sample (N = 13,690) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. We first compare self-rated memory with a number of well-established memory tests and then investigate the role of sociodemographic factors in determining self-reports conditional on memory test performance. We find that self-rated memory is only weakly correlated with memory test performance and yields low sensitivity and specificity in detecting individuals with relatively poor memory test performance. We also find evidence for substantial differential item functioning across sociodemographic groups. Our results, therefore, caution against the use of simple self-rated memory measures for memory assessments in primary care or survey research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients may present cognitive deficits during all stages of bipolar disorder (BD). Few studies have examined self-reported cognitive difficulties and its relation to neurocognitive dysfunction during symptomatic periods of BD. This study aimed to compare subjective cognitive functioning and explore associations between subjective and objective cognitive functioning across different BD clinical states, and investigate the predicting and moderating roles of mood symptoms.Methods: Subjective cognitive functioning (measured by Cognitive Complaints in Bipolar Disorder Rating Assessment, COBRA) and several domains of cognitive functioning (assessed by a neuropsychological battery), including executive functions, attention and processing speed, and visual memory, were examined in 48 hypomanic or manic patients, 42 depressed bipolar patients, 50 euthymic bipolar patients and 60 healthy comparisons.Results: All patients exhibited subjective and objective cognitive deficits in relation to healthy comparisons. There was a significant association between subjective and objective cognitive functioning in euthymic group, but the association was not significant in acute symptomatic groups, which could be moderated by depressive or manic symptoms in depressive or manic group, respectively. Subjective cognitive functioning was significantly correlated with mood symptoms, and the best predictor of subjective cognitive functioning was depressive symptoms.Limitations: This was a cross-sectional study with a mixed sample of inpatients and outpatients. The medication effect was not adjusted.Conclusions: The associations between subjective and objective cognitive dysfunction varied in clinical states, and mood symptoms moderated the associations. A neuropsychological test battery is required to substantiate actual cognitive dysfunction in clinical settings, irrespective of subjective cognitive deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School socioeconomic status (SES) is studied primarily as a variable to explain academic achievement; however, few previous studies have investigated how SES can influence individual student's academic achievement. The present study used a national representative sample of 10,784 grade 7 to 9 students (53.2% boys and 46.8% girls) in mainland China to examine the links between school SES and students' math and Chinese achievements, including the math and Chinese teacher-student relationships as mediating factors. The parents provided family socioeconomic information and the students reported on their teacher-student relationships. Achievements in math and Chinese were assessed using standardized tests. Multilevel mediation analyses revealed that school SES was positively related to students' math and Chinese achievements. Moreover, the link between school SES and students' math achievement was partially mediated by students' perception of the math teacher-student relationship. The Chinese teacher-student relationship had no mediating effect. This study indicated that school SES can influence individual student's academic achievement via their perception of teacher-student relationship. The poverty and lack of resources is obvious, yet low SES schools could make efforts in improving teacher-student relationship's quality to promote students' academic performance. Meanwhile, low SES schools should receive more attention from policymakers to improve teaching quality and school climate. Furthermore, the study findings could be used for future research on the gap between low and high SES schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to intentionally control behavior to achieve specific goals helps children concentrate in school and behave appropriately in social situations. In Chinese culture, where self-regulation is highly valued by parents and teachers, children’s difficulties self-regulating may contribute to increased learning problems and subsequent authoritarian parenting. In this study we explored the longitudinal linkages among Chinese children’s self-regulation, learning problems, and authoritarian parenting using a developmental cascades model. Participants were N = 617 primary school students in Shanghai, P.R. China followed over three years from Grade 3-4 to Grade 5-6. Measures of children’s self-regulation, learning problems, and maternal authoritarian parenting were obtained each year from a combination of child self-reports and maternal and teacher ratings. Among the results: (1) compared with the unidirectional and bidirectional models, the developmental cascades model was deemed the best fit for the data; (2) earlier self-regulation negatively predicted later authoritarian parenting via a pathway through academic performance; (3) academic performance directly and indirectly contributed to greater self-regulation. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of self-regulation for Chinese children’s academic success and authoritarian parenting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory suggests that parenting affects the development of important psychological and behavioral outcomes. Many studies relate dimensions of parenting style such as demandingness and responsiveness to child outcomes including self-regulation. Few studies, however, relate parenting to self-regulation using Eastern Asian samples. The present study uses the China Family Panel Study (CFPS), a nationally representative Chinese survey, to investigate cross-sectional relations between parenting factors (responsiveness, behavioral control, and perceived responsibility) and child self-regulation, which was reported by both parents and ten-year-old children (N = 485). After controlling for demographics and self-esteem, perceived responsibility and responsiveness related to higher self-regulation in children, as reported by parents and children. Parents’ behavioral control of children was unrelated to self-regulation. Our findings that behavioral control showed nonsignificant relations to self-regulation in Chinese children indicate that parenting theory developed using western samples may generalize poorly to Chinese and other Eastern Asian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have found that bilingualism can delay the age of onset of Alz­heimer disease (AD). The interpretation of these findings is that switching between two languages can enhance cognitive reserve. However, some studies have provided inconsistent results. Diverse language pairs used by the bilinguals in different studies may contribute to the discrepancies. Cantonese and Mandarin are widely used in southern China, and regarded as bilingualism. The present study aims to determine if Cantonese/Mandarin bilingualism can delay the onset of AD. Methods: The data of 129 patients diagnosed with probable AD, including 48 Cantonese monolinguals, 20 Mandarin monolinguals, and 61 Cantonese/Mandarin bilinguals were analyzed. Results: Cantonese/Mandarin bilinguals were found to have an older age at AD onset, and older age at the first clinic visit than Mandarin monolinguals and Cantonese monolinguals. Both Mandarin monolinguals and Cantonese/Mandarin bilinguals had a higher education level and higher occupation status than the Cantonese monolinguals. Mandarin monolinguals did not differ from Cantonese/Mandarin bilinguals significantly in years of education and occupation status. The multiple linear regression analyses indicated that Cantonese/Mandarin bilingualism can delay the onset of AD independently. Conclusion: Constantly speaking both Cantonese and Mandarin from at least early adulthood can delay the onset of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In order to explain the potential mechanism that might motivate and maintain health anxiety (HA), researchers have developed several measures to assess the level of HA and to identify related cognitions and personality features. However, such instruments typically measure general metacognitions [e.g., the Metacognition Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30)], thereby compromising the degree of sensitivity and specificity of measurement as applied to HA-related metacognitions. To address that issue, the Metacognitions about Health Questionnaire (MCQ-HA) was designed especially for measuring metacognitive beliefs specific to HA. Because a Chinese version of MCQ-HA may be helpful in improving our understanding of HA in a Chinese population, in the current study we sought to develop a Chinese version of the MCQ-HA (CMCQ-HA).Methods: We translated the MCQ-HA into Chinese with consideration of cultural diversity. For evaluation of its validity and stability, a sample of 1290 Chinese college students answered the CMCQ-HA, the Short Health Anxiety Inventory, the MCQ-30, and the Neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. 292 students of them answered the CMCQ-HA twice.Results: Good internal consistency (α = 0.81) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.70) of the CMCQ-HA was presented. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a three-factor structure: beliefs about biased thinking, beliefs that thoughts can cause illness, and beliefs that thoughts are uncontrollable. Convergent validity, divergent validity, and incremental validity all were acceptable. Measurement invariance across gender was established.Conclusions: The CMCQ-HA shows promise for the measurement of specific HA-related metacognitions in Chinese populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:To review the development, application, and value of neuropsychology, and the standard education and training pathway for neuropsychologists or clinical neuropsychologists in Hong Kong.Method:The information provided here was gathered via a literature review of the status of neuropsychology and the validity of commonly adopted neuropsychological tests in Hong Kong. Additional details were acquired via the internet about local tertiary education curricula and the related requirements, the availability of professional associations for licensure or board certification, and relevant statistics/surveys conducted by the government. Some information about the clinical practice of neuropsychology was collected through personal communication with local clinical psychologists.Results:The development of neuropsychology in Hong Kong over the past 20 years is rapid and productive, given the increasing application of advanced neuroimaging techniques, neuropsychological tests, and opportunities for exchanging up-to-date neuropsychological knowledge and professional training through international conferences, workshops, and seminars. Given that neuropsychology services are often provided by clinical psychologists who are master’s degree graduates in clinical psychology, the relatively limited training in neuropsychological knowledge and skills and the lack of division for membership or mandatory registration as a neuropsychologist/clinical neuropsychologist may have an impact on the quality of clinical neuropsychological services and the development of this specialty.Conclusions:These findings signify a need for further improvement or refinement of educational and training pathways for neuropsychologist or clinical neuropsychologist along with the recognition of its value in clinical practice through registration of different disciplines of psychology in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We tested Apperly and Butterfill's (2009, Psychological Review, 116, 753) theory that humans have two mindreading systems whereby the efficient-system guiding anticipatory glances displays signature limits that do not apply to the flexible system guiding verbal predictions. Experiments 1 and 2 tested urban Mainland- Chinese adults ( n = 64) and Experiment 3 tested Semai children living in the rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia (3- to 4-year-olds, n = 60). Participants - across different ages, groups and methods - anticipated others' false-beliefs about object-location but not object-identity. Convergence in signature limits signalled that the early-developing efficient system involved minimal theory-of-mind. Chinese adults and older Semai children showed flexibility in their direct predictions. The flexible mindreading system in ascribing others' beliefs as such was task-sensitive and implicated maturational and cultural contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) lessens quality of life, restricts the rehabilitation of stroke, and increases the social and economic burden stroke imposes on patients and their families. Therefore effective treatment is of paramount importance. However, the treatment of PSCI is very limited. The primary aim of this protocol is to propose a lower cost and more effective therapy, and to confirm the long-term effectiveness of a therapeutic regimen of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) rehabilitation for PSCI. Methods/design: A prospective, multicenter, large sample, randomized controlled trial will be conducted. A total of 416 eligible patients will be recruited from seven inpatient and outpatient stroke rehabilitation units and randomly allocated into a therapeutic regimen of TCM rehabilitation group or cognitive training (CT) control group. The intervention period of both groups will last 12 weeks (30 minutes per day, five days per week). Primary and secondary outcomes will be measured at baseline, 12 weeks (at the end of the intervention), and 36 weeks (after the 24-week follow-up period). Discussion: This protocol presents an objective design of a multicenter, large sample, randomized controlled trial that aims to put forward a lower cost and more effective therapy, and confirm the long-term effectiveness of a therapeutic regimen of TCM rehabilitation for PSCI through subjective and objective assessments, as well as highlight its economic advantages. Trial Registration: This trial was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (identifier: ChiCTR-TRC-14004872 ) on 23 June 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So far, many studies on educational games have been carried out in America and Europe. Very few related empirical studies, however, have been conducted in China. This study, combining both quantitative with qualitative research methods, possibly compensated for this regret. The study compared data collected from two randomly selected classes (out of 13 classes) under computer game-based instruction (CGBI) and non-computer game-based instruction (NCGBI), respectively, in a senior high school located in Nanjing, Capital of Jiangsu Province, in China. The participants were 103 students, composed of 52 boys and 51 girls (aged 17-18 years old). The following conclusion was reached: (1) participants under CGBI obtained significantly greater learning achievement than those under NCGBI; (2) participants were significantly more motivated by CGBI compared with NCGBI; (3) there were no significant differences in learning achievement between boys and girls; although (4) boys were significantly more motivated by CGBI than girls. Both disadvantages and advantages were discussed, together with directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pictorial stimuli standardized for Chinese children are still absent although it is needed in order to test the development of children's cognitive functions. This study presents normative measures for Snodgrass and Vanderwart pictures, viewed by 4- and 6-year old Chinese children. Name agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity were obtained for each age group. The data indicate substantial differences between young and older children in name agreement based on expected name, familiarity and visual complexity. The correlation pattern of the variables collected in the present study were consistent with children's norms in other languages and norms of Chinese adults, while there are cross-age and cross-culture differences in specific variables. The obtained measures represent a useful tool for further research on Chinese children's pictorial processing and constitute the first picture normative study for children in this language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Little is known about quality of life ( QOL) in Chinese patients with bipolar disorder ( BD) in remission (euthymia). This study examined the QOL of such a cohort of BD patients and its demographic, clinical, and cognitive correlates. Design and Methods Forty-seven euthymic BD patients and 47 matched healthy controls formed the study sample. Socio-demographic characteristics, prospective memory, retrospective memory, intelligence quotient, and executive functioning were measured in all participants together with patients' psychopathology ratings. Findings Multivariate analyses revealed that compared to controls, euthymic BD patients had significantly lower satisfaction with physical QOL domain. Only subthreshold depressive symptoms independently contributed to reduced satisfaction with physical and environmental QOL domains, whereas no variable predicted its psychological and social domains. Practice Implications Contrary to findings from Western settings, demographic variables and cognitive deficits had no associations with any QOL domain in euthymic Chinese BD patients. Control of subthreshold depressive symptoms in euthymic BD patients might enhance their QOL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that infants and toddlers succeed at a wide range of non-elicited-response false-belief tasks (i.e., tasks that do not require children to answer a direct question about a mistaken agent's likely behaviour). However, one exception to this generalization comes from verbal anticipatory-looking tasks, which have produced inconsistent findings with toddlers. One possible explanation for these findings is that toddlers succeed when they correctly interpret the prompt as a self-addressed utterance (making the task a non-elicited-response task), but fail when they mistakenly interpret the prompt as a direct question (making the task an elicited-response task). Here, 2.5-year-old toddlers were tested in a verbal anticipatory-looking task that was designed to help them interpret the anticipatory prompt as a self-addressed utterance: the experimenter looked at the ceiling, chin in hand, during and after the prompt. Children gave evidence of false-belief understanding in this task, but failed when the experimenter looked at the child during and after the prompt. These results reinforce claims of robust continuity in early false-belief reasoning and provide additional support for the distinction between non-elicited- and elicited-response false-belief tasks. Three accounts of the discrepant results obtained with these tasks - and of early false-belief understanding more generally - are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Selenium is considered a protective agent against free radicals through the maintenance of better enzyme activity. The few studies examining the relationship between selenium and depression have yielded inconsistent results and none of these studies considered the role of cognitive function in this context. Methods: A cross-sectional evaluation of 1737 rural Chinese age 65 and over from two provinces in China was conducted. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Cognitive function was assessed using various cognitive instruments. Selenium measures were obtained from nail samples. Other information collected included demographic characteristics and medical history. Analysis of covariance models were used to identify factors associated with GDS score. Results: Higher selenium levels were associated with lower GDS scores adjusting for demographic and medical conditions (p = 0.0321). However, the association between selenium and depressive symptoms was no longer significant when cognitive function score was adjusted in the model (p = 0.2143). Conclusions: Higher selenium level was associated with lower depressive symptoms without adjusting for cognition in this cohort. However, after cognition was adjusted in the model the association between selenium and depressive symptoms was no longer significant, suggesting that selenium's association with depressive symptoms may be primarily through its association with cognitive function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents psychology-related abstracts. Origins of ethical principles and values in modern-day professional codes of ethics; Parent-child relation and intergenerational changes in China; Mind-reading among deaf children: A longitudinal study.

Background: The adipokine adipsin contributes to insulin resistance (IR), inflammation, and obesity, which are all regarded as high-risk factors for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. This research aimed to uncover the role of adipsin in Chinese type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) population with early cognitive dysfunction and determine whether adipsin contributes to diabetic MCI caused by IR. Methods: In our study, 126 patients with T2DM were enrolled. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was used to assess cognitive impairment. Demographic data and neuropsychological test results were evaluated. Plasma adipsin level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The MCI group (n = 57) presented higher plasma adipsin levels compared with the healthy controls (p = 0.018). After adjustment for educational attainment, and age, begative correlations were found between plasma adipsin levels and MoCA, Mini Mental State Exam, and Verbal Fluency Test scores(r = − 0.640, p < 0.001; r = − 0.612, p < 0.001; r = − 0.288, p = 0.035; respectively). Correlation analysis demonstrated that adipsin levels were significantly positively correlated with fasting C-peptide; homeostasis model of assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (r = 0.368, p < 0.001; r = 0.494, p < 0.001; respectively). Multivariable regression analysis further indicated that high plasma adipsin level was a significant independent determinant of MCI in the Chinese population withT2DM (p = 0.017). Conclusions: Elevated plasma adipsin level was associated with MCI in Chinese T2DM patients. Further large-scale studies should be designed to determine whether adipsin is linked to IR-associated susceptibility to early cognitive decline in T2DM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]