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Researchshows that Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) foster teachers'professional learning. However, there is little knowledge about theirimplementation among early childhood (EC) teachers in Chilean andLatin American contexts. This article seeks to characterize two PLCscomposed of EC teachers and to analyse, from the participants'perspectives, the experience as a professional learning process. Froma qualitative perspective, a multiple case study was developed. 27 ECteachers participated, 12 from PLC 1 and 15 from PLC 2. Datacollection included nonparticipant observations, interviews and focusgroups. Data were analysed by an open coding process based ongrounded theory. The results show that each PLC highlighted differentaspects related to pedagogical practice, self-care practice, trustand close relationships, and institutional validation. From theteachers' perspective, PLCs contribute to professional learning, interms of fostering complex and critical reflective practice, andcollaborative conceptual learning that promotes not only knowledgeacquisition and construction but is also empowering for teachers.Practical and investigative implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a study on how digital mediation in the teaching-learning process of Modern and Contemporary Physics concepts in elementary school establishes the production of hybrid mechanisms of cognition between humans and non-humans, in light of Bruno Latour's generalized symmetry. To this end, we chose as knowledge content the phenomenon of nuclear fusion, foreseen as an object of knowledge in the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC) of Natural Sciences. In view of this, we adopted the articulation of three theoretical references, the Network Cognitive Mediation Theory (TMC), responsible for discussing the mediation mechanisms as processing external to the human brain and its implications on the cognitive structure of students, the Theory of Mental Models that classifies and categorizes the types of mental representations and Bruno Latour's Symmetrical Anthropology that provides a systemic, reticular and nondichotomized view of the construction of reality. The initial results were obtained after analyzing the questionnaires and the students' verbal and sign languages. Subsequently, we interpreted the results in accordance with the concepts of hybridization, detours and translations of Latourian thought. We found that digital mediation in this context influences the cognitive mechanisms used by students and the sophistication of the mental representations constructed by them. Finally, we recognize that both the teaching-learning process and the construction of mental representations based on digital mediation constitute Latourian hybrids, as the actors involved begin to share human and non-human skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Ciencias Sociales (13159518) is the property of Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad del Zulia Venezuela and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study was oriented to assess the teaching performance that favors creativity from the teaching practices, contrasting it with the type of educational institution, pedagogical model, creativity and academic score of the students in a sample of the educational institutions of the Aburrá Valley. A quantitative, nonexperimental, ex post facto study was carried out with 210 teachers and 950 students from 10 educational institutions. The Likert scale of teaching performance designed adhoc, and the PIC-J test were used. The results indicate that the use of cognitive mediation strategies for divergent thinking and the use of flexible and open evaluation strategies are related to higher creativity scores in students. The implications for educational processes and the need to implement innovative pedagogical and didactic strategies to reorient the emphasis of rote methodologies towards creative learning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Far from being a monolithic approach to psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is in fact an umbrella term to describe a family of psychological therapies that share many common features but also have nuanced differences. Of the CBTs, two are often conflated under the 'CBT' moniker, namely cognitive therapy (CT) and rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). In this article, we explore some of the key differences and similarities between CT and REBT, touching on philosophy, practical implementation, and literature. We provide a brief hypothetical case study to demonstrate the different ways a therapist using CT and REBT might tackle the same client problem. We do not declare either approach superior, but suggest each might have their advantages in certain contexts and acknowledge that skilful practitioners could, and often do, integrate both approaches. As CBT continues to evolve and move into new areas, it is important that psychology practitioners and researchers are clear about which specific approach to CBT they are delivering, measuring and/or reporting on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este artigo aborda o uso de recursos digitais de Tecnologia Assistiva (TA) como um mediador hipercultural no processo de ensino e aprendizagem de Física para estudantes surdos. Para tanto, utiliza-se a Teoria da Mediação Cognitiva (TMC) como suporte teórico, visando explicar os impactos da introdução de tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TIC's), na cognição humana, e como estas têm influenciado a forma como interagimos, socializamos e produzimos novos conhecimentos. Inicialmente é discutido alguns aspectos centrais da Teoria da Mediação Cognitiva (TMC), para situar o leitor, no que diz respeito a apresentar essa teoria Psicológica aplicada à educação, e principalmente, relatar o desenvolvimento de uma nova forma de processamento de informações por parte dos seres humanos, a mediação Hipercultural. Posteriormente são apresentados alguns recursos de Tecnologia Assistiva (TA) que foram desenvolvidos para surdos e, em seguida, como alguns desses recursos já foram utilizados no processo de ensino e de aprendizagem de estudantes surdos em diversos contextos educacionais. Por fim, ressaltase algumas possibilidades de aplicações de recursos digitais de Tecnologia Assistiva (TA) conjecturadas pelos autores para o ensino de Física e como esses recursos fazem parte de uma abordagem pedagógica desenvolvida e aplicada em uma Escola Especial para surdos da cidade de Porto Alegre - RS. This article discusses the use of digital resources of Assistive Technology (AT) as a hypercultural mediator in the process of teaching and learning Physics for deaf students. To this end, the Cognitive Mediation Networks Theory (CMNT) is considered to explain the impacts of introducing new information and communication technologies (ICTs), in human cognition, and how these have influenced the way we interact, socialize produce new knowledge. Initially, some central aspects of the Cognitive Mediation Networks Theory (CMNT) are discussed, to situate the reader, to concerning presenting this psychological theory applied to education, and mainly, to report the development of a new way of processing information by humans, the Hypercultural mediation. Subsequently, some Assistive Technology (AT) resources developed for the deaf are presented. Then, was how some of these resources have already been used in the teaching and learning process of deaf students in various educational settings. Finally, we highlight some possibilities of applications of Assistive Technology (AT) digital resources conjectured by the authors for teaching Physics and how these resources are part of a pedagogical approach developed for teaching deaf students in a Special School in Porto Alegre - RS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technologies are common tools that have changed the way we access knowledge. Currently, it is necessary to study them and rethink about their use as didactic resources aimed at digital natives. Content development and interface of a digital product for educational purposes should be based on clear pedagogical strategies with an adequate scientific support. Instructional design must provide these strategies and methodologies to create instructional experiences to foster meaningful learning, taking into consideration that technology is a means rather than an end. For the stimulation of the cognitive func-tions, comfort factors, such as: functionality and usability should reflect a creative process conducted by the users so that it becomes student-oriented. The design of digital didactic resources aimed at children, should also consider that the quality and design of contents must adapt to the age of the learner. Characteristics like content, organization, formal aspect, visual and interactive resources should be adjusted to the student ́s different developmental stages. This research aims to review previous studies on graphic design interfaces to create digital teaching resources that converge on three axes: instructional design, cognitive functions and de-sign focused on the user. This study concludes with the design of digital didactic resources aimed at children.

Culture is part of an extensive series of feedback loops, which involve multiple organismic levels including social contexts, cognitive mediations, neural processes, and behavior. Recent studies in neuroscience show that culturally contingent social processes shape some neural pathways. Studying the influence of cultural context on neural processes may yield new insights into psychiatric disorders. New methodologies in the neurosciences offer innovative ways to assess the impact of culture on mental health and illness. However, implementing these methodologies raises important theoretical and ethical concerns, which must be resolved to address patient individuality and the complexity of cultural diversity. This article discusses cultural context as a major influence on (and consequence of) human neural plasticity and advocates a culture–brain–behavior (CBB) interaction model for conceptualizing the relationship between culture, brain, and psychiatric disorders. Recommendations are made for integrating neuroscientific techniques into transcultural psychiatric research by taking a systems approach to evaluating disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous learning in higher education is an aspiration to achieve from the institutions, their teachers and students. In search of this goal, the educational paradigm has undergone profound changes in recent decades, shifting the focus of teacher- centered learning towards a focus on the role of student learning approach. This condition determines that students must demonstrate skills that enable them to face this task with autonomy and efficiency, showing ability to generate their own knowledge and to require it, cognitive, affective attitudinal and behavioral tools. That is, students need to be active participants in their learning process, be self-regulating their own learning. Various studies have shown the importance of the processes of self-regulated learning in students of higher education, thus relieving at this stage of learning, the need to strengthen tools to learn independently, remains a debt. This document highlights a research experience that emphasizes the importance of the first academic year as fundamental to the promotion of the above tools now. The empirical study of quasi-experimental design was performed during the first semester. an instrument of self-report on the transverse generic skills to 171 students (87 experimental group) (84, control group) was administered. Subsequently, an intervention program focused on the approach of cognitive mediation and self- regulation strategies evaluating its effect on learning skills and measures developed. The results showed that the intervention program, effectively impact on the development of academic skills, positively modifying math skills, organizational, speaking and concentration. No changes were observed in the skills of reading and writing. The control group showed no changes post test in any of the areas of competence evaluated.

The following paper argues that Husserl's description of the natural attitude can be used as an alternative to Beck's cognitive therapy's understanding of the change process and the perpetuation of an emotional disorder. Conversely this also provides further insight into the natural attitude. Specifically the works of Sebastian Luft and Alfred Schutz are referred to as a means of developing what is termed by the paper as the universalising attitude. The paper extrapolates the incidental, yet significant, phenomenological structures within CBT's process of guided discovery to support its hypothesis that the change process can be understood as the patient undertaking at various times in therapy, a series of differing epoché. It is argued that CBT ultimately 'works' by the patient learning to achieve a rudimentary phenomenological attitude. The patient acquires insight by 'standing back' from their factual understanding of self, others and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Anxiety and depression are common and deleterious comorbidities in people living with dementia (PLWD). Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is one of the few promising treatments; however, it is unclear whether PLWD have the necessary prerequisites to engage in this. Having an understanding of cognitive mediation, that a thought mediates the relationship between an antecedent event and its emotional consequence, is key for engaging with CBT and is also a critical component of emotion regulation. There are no measures of this construct validated for PLWD. This study aims to adapt and validate an existing measure for this population. A secondary aim is to assess its applicability in older adults (OA) without a recognised neurocognitive impairment.Methods: A measure of cognitive mediation was adapted via expert and service user consultation for use in PLWD. A total of 102 PLWD and 77 OA without neurocognitive impairments completed the adapted measure along with two measures of emotion recognition and reasoning. Factor structure was examined separately in both samples, and the measure reduced, with convergent validity assessed.Results: A final measure of 10 items (named the CM-Dem) was subject to factor analysis yielding a single factor solution. The measure showed good psychometric properties in PLWD, including good model fit, high internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and moderate convergent validity with related constructs. In contrast, poor validity was found in OA, especially a lack of convergent validity.Conclusions: The CM-Dem has clinical and research utility as a measure of cognitive mediation in PLWD, but less so in OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Science Mathematics & ICT Education is the property of Library & Information Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines how a teacher utilized a sandwich approach to DA in a sixth grade Spanish World Language classroom to form a dialectical relationship between instruction and assessment. While existing research has provided evidence that mediation provided during group DA can promote the language learning of multiple students, these investigations presented data for only a few individuals in the group, rather than all. The present study explored how DA was used in the classroom to gather more accurate data on all learners so that instruction could be tailored more appropriately to individual's needs. In the present study, the teacher delivered a pretest, analyzed students' performance to design instructional modules, and then carried out a series of posttests and transfer tasks to determine learners' mediated performance. Our findings focus on how the teacher's analysis of student performance shaped her subsequent instructional decisions and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is recommended for the treatment of a number of mental disorders among the general population, the ability of individuals with learning disabilities (LD) to understand CBT concepts and engage in CBT has been questioned. Aims: To examine whether specific prerequisite skills for CBT can be taught to people with LD using a newly developed training intervention and to investigate the acceptability of the intervention. Method: The study adopted a within-subjects case series research design. Quantitative assessment methods were used to evaluate the CBT skills of six adults with mild to moderate LD pre-intervention, following intervention and at 1-week follow-up. Participants were also asked to provide some qualitative feedback about how they had experienced the intervention. Results: The cognitive mediation skills and the ability of most participants to link activating events to emotions increased following intervention training and this improvement was maintained for four of them at follow-up. The feedback of participants regarding the process and content of the task demands was positive. Conclusions: The findings suggest that people with LD can learn some of the skills considered necessary to participate in CBT, such as cognitive mediation. However, further and more robust research is required to substantiate these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Crime continuity is one of the best documented and least understood aspects of criminal behavior. Psychological inertia, the notion that cognitive variables mediate the relationship between earlier and later expressions of the same behavior, was tested as a possible explanation for crime continuity. Methods: The cognitive mediation and additive postulates of the psychological inertia theorem were tested in a path analysis using self-report data from 1170 male delinquent members of the Pathways to Desistance study (Mulvey in Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, ). Wave 1 delinquency served as the independent variable, Wave 3 delinquency served as the dependent variable, Wave 2 outcome expectancies for crime, self-efficacy, general criminal thinking, and social capital served as the mediator variables, and 12 different baseline measures from criminological theory served as control variables in this study. Results: General criminal thinking and low self-efficacy successfully mediated the relationship between past and future offending after age, race, early behavioral problems, peer criminality, family criminality, parental knowledge and monitoring, parental hostility, routine activities, measured intelligence, and precursors for each of the mediators were controlled. Social capital (cumulative disadvantage), by comparison, failed to mediate crime continuity in this study. Conclusions: Effective cognitive mediation of the relationship between Wave 1 offending and Wave 3 offending and evidence that the effect may be additive offer preliminary support for the cognitive mediation and additive postulates of the psychological inertia theorem. Practical implications of these results include the need to routinely assess cognitive factors in criminal populations and target these factors for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El propósito principal del presente estudio consistió en determinar si existe una transferencia del entrenamiento metacognitivo en comprensión de lectura al mejoramiento de la habilidad de resolución de problemas y viceversa, para lo cual fue necesario evaluar previamente el efecto de dicho entrenamiento en ambas variables. Se utilizó un diseño cuasi-experimental de tres grupos intactos, con pretest y postest. La muestra estuvo constituida por 98 estudiantes de séptimo grado de Educación Básica, organizados en secciones de clase (n 1 = 32; n 2 = 30 y n 3 = 36), provenientes de una unidad educativa pública de la ciudad de Cabudare (Estado Lara, Venezuela); de ambos sexos, con una edad promedio de 13 años y de estrato socieconómico bajo. Las variables de estudio fueron la habilidad de comprensión de lectura y la habilidad de resolución de problemas. Los grupos mostraron ser comparables pre-experimentalmente en las mediciones previas de estas variables. Las técnicas estadísticas utilizadas fueron: ANOVA y Scheffé para determinar las diferencias entre los grupos. Los resultados indicaron que la mediación del docente tuvo un efecto significativo en el mejoramiento de las habilidades estudiadas y en su transferencia recíproca. Las implicaciones de estos resultados para la práctica pedagógica y para la teoría del aprendizaje se analizan en el presente estudio.This study's main purpose was to determine whether metacognitive training for reading comprehension transfers to improved problem solving abilities, and vice versa. Hence, the effect of such training upon these two variables had to be determined first. A quasi-experimental design was used, with pretest and posttest on three intact groups. The subjects were n = 98 seventh-grade students, organized in three class sections (n1 = 32; n2 = 30; and n3 = 36), enrolled at a public junior-high school located in Cabudare (Lara State, Venezuela). The sample included males and females, with an average age of 13 years and of low socioeconomic status. The dependent variables were: reading comprehension ability and problem-solving ability. The treatment groups proved to be comparable regarding these variables prior to the experiment, as revealed by the pretest. The ANOVA and Scheffé statistical tests were used to determine the differences among the groups. The results indicted that the teacher's cognitive mediation contributed significantly to the improvement of the abilities in question and to their reciprocal transfer. The implications of these results for both pedagogical practice and learning theory are analyzed in this study.

Aims Training has been shown to improve the ability of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) to perform some cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) tasks. This study used a computerised training paradigm with the aim of improving the ability of people with IDs to: a) discriminate between behaviours, thoughts and feelings, and b) link situations, thoughts and feelings. Methods Fifty-five people with mild-to-moderate IDs were randomly assigned to a training or attention-control condition in a single-blind mixed experimental design. Computerised tasks assessed the participants’ skills in: (a) discriminating between behaviours, thoughts and feelings (separately and pooled together), and (b) cognitive mediation by selecting appropriate emotions as consequences to given thoughts, and appropriate thoughts as mediators of given emotions. Results Training significantly improved ability to discriminate between behaviours, thoughts and feelings pooled together, compared to the attention-control condition, even when controlling for baseline scores and IQ. Large within-group improvements in the ability to identify behaviours and feelings were observed for the training condition, but not the attention-control group. There were no significant between-group differences in ability to identify thoughts, or on cognitive mediation skills. Conclusions A single session of computerised training can improve the ability of people with IDs to understand and practise CBT tasks relating to behaviours and feelings. There is potential for computerised training to be used as a “primer” for CBT with people with IDs to improve engagement and outcomes, but further development on a specific computerised cognitive mediation task is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The aim was to examine whether specific skills required for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) could be taught using a computerised training paradigm with people who have intellectual disabilities (IDs). Training aimed to improve: a) ability to link pairs of situations and mediating beliefs to emotions, and b) ability to link pairs of situations and emotions to mediating beliefs. Method Using a single-blind mixed experimental design, sixty-five participants with IDs were randomised to receive either computerised training or an attention-control condition. Cognitive mediation skills were assessed before and after training. Results Participants who received training were significantly better at selecting appropriate emotions within situation–beliefs pairs, controlling for baseline scores and IQ. Despite significant improvements in the ability of those who received training to correctly select intermediating beliefs for situation-feelings pairings, no between-group differences were observed at post-test. Conclusions The findings indicated that computerised training led to a significant improvement in some aspects of cognitive mediation for people with IDs, but whether this has a positive effect upon outcome from therapy is yet to be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low trait positive affect represents an affective vulnerability to depression, but little research has examined mechanisms linking low trait positive affect to depressive symptoms. The current study investigated whether the cognitive strategies of dampening and positive rumination mediated the prospective association between low trait positive affect and depressive symptoms. Participants were 209 undergraduate students who participated in an eight-week online study. Depressive symptoms and trait temperament were assessed at baseline, followed by seven weekly questionnaires which assessed cognitive strategies in response to weekly events and weekly depressive symptoms. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling following the mediation approach proposed by Nezlek. Results indicated that low trait positive affect significantly predicted less positive rumination but not greater dampening in response to weekly positive events. Less positive rumination in response to weekly positive events partially mediated the association between low trait positive affect and greater depressive symptoms across the study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study was conducted to determine Cognitive Mediation of patients with Mood disorder, Schizophrenia and Normal participants. The Rorschach Ink Blot Test was used to observe cognitive mediation of participants. For these objectives thirty participants was selected as Schizophrenia from Mental health Clinic and Psychiatry Hospital. Thirty participants were selected as Mania with Psychotic Symptoms and same way thirty participants as Depression with Psychotic Symptoms and Thirty as Normal participants. Results indicates that there are significant differences regarding Cognitive Mediation Cluster among four groups. Participants with Schizophrenia have more Cognitive Mediational Impairments than other three groups Mania, Depression and Schizophrenia. Normal participants have no impairment regarding Cognitive Mediation. Indian norms are different from Exner's Comprehensive System norms. Such different have gotten regarding Popular responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author analyses the news campaigns of ecologist organisation Greenpeace as a series of symbolical actions with a special effectiveness, which explain their success and diffusion in distant and different audiences. He analyses the factor that contribute to that success, such as the link between local phenomena and global problems, the importance of concrete actions, the intermediating relationship or the witnessing and ethical value of each action. The apocalyptical look in these campaigns creates a diverse imaginary whose importance is evaluated in their positive or doubtful elements.

The present study was carried out to empirically test the hypothesis of cognitive mediation of self- -awareness through mental imagery and the relations of iconic mediation with visualization skills. It also examined the psychometric qualities of the Situational Self-Awareness Scale and the Visualization Test (Mental Imagery Skills) with its two independent series - Self and Non-Self, enabling their use in future research. The complete ex post facto study was conducted with 958 university students, who answered the instruments individually or collectively. The data were analyzed using factor analysis procedure, Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression technique and multi dimensional analysis. The analyses corroborate the hypothesis of cognitive mediation of self-awareness through mental imagery and that iconic mediation has a consistent relationship with the level of development of imagery skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article supports several aspects of the arguments by Hofmann, Asmundson, and Beck (2013--this issue) about the scientific basis of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), for example, that CBT has a strong evidence base, and that studies of the mechanisms of change are warranted. This response discusses growth within the broad field of CBT, as well as the diverse research methods that are needed to explore both clinical efficacy and treatment mechanism questions. It is suggested that the field of CBT may be approaching a shift in emphasis from cognitive to metacognitive assessment and interventions. The article concludes with a statement of general support for further development of the field of CBT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: After reflexion about “short” and “invalid” protocols in the Rorschach Comprehensive System, the author analyses a protocol of a schizophrenic patient in symptomatic stabilization. This Rorschach does not meet the criteria of validity (less than 14 answers and 3 rejections of cards) and therefore does not allow to achieve a complete structural psychopathological analysis. The hypothesis of this contribution is to achieve a phenomenological study of this protocol centered on the cognitive mediation process. The implicit approach of “false perception” suggested to the patient (“what might this be?”) seems hardly tolerable and could, in part, explain the refusal of cards and the systematic questioning of the response and finally their rejection. This “methodical doubt” is similar to the exercises of cognitive remediation based on knowledge of disorder and his associated symptoms. Finally, the analysis of the Rorschach gives us interesting information about symptomatology stabilization and residual component of the schizophrenic disorder. These observations appear to be incompatible with homeostatic hypothesis and demonstrate the usefulness of residual schizophrenia diagnosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is well established that exposure therapy is an effective treatment for anxiety disorders. It is less clear, however, which mechanisms are crucial in explaining its success. In previous studies, cognitive change has been identified as a mediating variable. Several theorists have argued that the addition of cognitive interventions will, therefore, result in enhanced treatment effects. We tested this hypothesis by examining cognitive mediation of treatment in a purely behavioral versus a cognitive–behavioral exposure format. Thirty-one spider phobics were randomly assigned to either behavioral exposure or to exposure as a test for maladaptive cognitions (i.e., behavioral experiments). Both treatment formats showed large treatment effects and strong cognitive mediation of these effects. This indicates that, even when cognitions are not explicitly targeted, exposure effects are cognitively mediated. This challenges the idea that cognitions have to be explicitly challenged to elicit cognitive change in exposure treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The present study investigated cognitive mediation of clinical improvement in patients with agoraphobia (N=427) or social phobia (N=98) receiving high-density exposure therapy in a naturalistic clinical treatment setting. Methods: Patients were assessed before therapy, 6 weeks after the end of therapy, and 1 year thereafter, using a self-report assessment battery. Lower level mediation analyses provided support for the notion that cognitive changes partially mediate clinical improvement after exposure therapy. Results: Changes in cognitions relating to physical catastrophes mediated treatment outcome only for patients with agoraphobia, whereas changes in cognitions about loss of control mediated outcome for both agoraphobia and social phobia patients. Changes in relationship satisfaction did not mediate symptomatic improvement. Conclusions: The results extend previous findings by demonstrating mediation in an unselected clinical sample and by providing evidence for the specificity of mediation effects. They further support the importance of cognitive changes in cognitive–behavior therapy. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated how people learn to correct errors in actions directed toward cognitively encoded spatial locations. Subjects inserted a stylus to reach a hidden target localized by means of ultrasound imaging and portrayed with a scaled graph. As was found previously (Wu et al., 2005), subjects initially underestimated the target location but corrected their responses when given training with feedback. Three experiments were conducted to examine whether the error correction occurred at (1) the mapping from the input to a mental representation of target location, (2) the mapping from the representation of target location to the intended insertion response, or (3) the mapping from intended response to action. Experiments 1 and 3 disconfirmed Mappings 1 and 3, respectively, by showing that training did not alter independent measures of target localization or the action of aiming. Experiment 2 showed that the output of Mapping 2, the planned response—measured as the initial insertion angle—was corrected over trials, and the correction magnitude predicted the response to a transfer stimulus with a new represented location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]