JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Year:2019 | Volume:7 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:7

This research, by designing a task based on a set of problems and paradoxes of cognitive psychology and social psychology, examines rationality in economic decision-making of individuals under risk and uncertainty. For years, rationality was the central axiom of psychological decision-making in Economics. The new theory in the field of psychology and behavioral economics is called the Prospect theory; which has a greater power of explanation compared to the Expected Utility Theory. To our knowledge, no similar study has been done in Iran. The sample included 180 male and female university students. The method of sampling was convenience sampling, and participants encountered questions in a random order. Because our data did not have a normal distribution we had to use non-parametric statistics. The validity of our task was 0. 72 and its reliability was obtained 0. 86 (p<0. 05). The scores of all subgroups were obtained as significant (a severe and significant tendency to irrational economical choices under risk and uncertainty). The median was found to be 21 and 70% of the participants scored above 15. 5 (out of 31 points). The findings are completely in line with the concept of bounded rationality in the psychology of decision-making and confirm that the prospect theory explains the data far better than its prior theories.

Since students with Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder are more likely to perform some unhealthy behaviors than normal people, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of cognitive rehabilitation exercises on the reduction of unhealthy eating behaviors and attitudes among adolescents with Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder. The research design was semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test stages. The study population consisted of adolescent students from 14 to 18 years old diagnosed with Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder by Kermanshah education counseling experts. 24 people were selected by the availability sampling method and were randomly divided into two groups: the cognitive rehabilitation excercises group and the control group. The experimental group received 12 sessions of 60 minutes twice a week where they were provided with cognitive rehabilitation exercises and the control group received the usual interventions. Williamson Eating Scale was used to measure the level of unhealthy eating behaviors and attitudes in two pre-test and post-test stages. Finally, the data were analyzed by the SPSS-23 software using covariance analysis. The results showed that cognitive rehabilitation excercises at the post-test stage had a significant effect on reducing unhealthy eating behaviors and attitudes among students with Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder compared to the control group. (P < 0/001). According to the findings, it can be concluded that cognitive rehabilitation excercises are effective and can be used to reduce adolescents' unhealthy eating behaviors and attitudes. It is also suggested that professionals working with adolescents who suffer from Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder should use the results presented to help these people.

Creativity is recognized as a function or an ability that emerges as genuine, valuable and useful. A person's level of creativity can be measured by assessing their performance in the tests of creativity. One of the most commonly used tests of creativity is the Remote Associates Test. The Remote Associates Test, developed by Mednick (1967), is recognized as a valid convergent thinking tool. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties and the Persian version of the Remote Associates Test. For this purpose, 482 students at Arak University were recruited through the cluster sampling method and participated in this study. Thus, at first 200 students were recruited and answered the Remote Associates Test. After the initial refinement, some modifications were made to the initial version, and then 282 subjects, other than the initial sample, responded to the Remote Associates Test, the Insight Problem Solving Test, and Guilford's Alternate Uses Test. Two classical approaches and the item response theory were used to investigate the coefficient of the difficulty and distinction of the items, construct validity, and reliability. Significant positive correlations of the Remote Associations Test with the Insight Problem Solving Test, and lack of its significant relationship with Guilford's Alternate Uses Test indicate convergent and differential validity, respectively, and an appropriate construct validity of the test. The results show the appropriate psychometric properties of the 30-item version of the Remote Associates Test, presented in this study, and it can be said that this test is effective and suitable for measuring convergent thinking in Persian.

Studying at university has always been associated with many stressors. A cognitive flexibility is a concept that has been recognized as an important skill for mastering oneself in various stressful situations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cognitive fatigue on students' cognitive flexibility with the mediatory role of cognitive needs. The statistical population of the study included all undergraduate female students of Arak Farhangian University, who were studying in the academic year 2015-2016. Among these students 60 were recruited to participate in the study. In order to collect data, Cacioppo & Petty’ s (1984) Need for Cognition questionnaire, diagnostic tasks similar to those of Sedek & Kofta (1990), Wisconsin Card Sorting Task software (Persian version) by Shahgholian et al., were applied. Based on the Need for Cognition questionnaire, the subjects were divided into two groups of 30 based on their need for high and low cognition and then participants in each group were randomly allocated into two groups of experiment and control with 15 members in each one. The experiment had two stages. In the first stage, the participants were exposed to cognitive tasks and then in the second stage, the Cognitive Flexibility Test was performed to compare the groups based on the amount of cognitive fatigue. The data were analysed by a one-way analysis of Covariance. The results showed that cognitive fatigue had a significant negative effect on cognitive flexibility and the mediatory role of need for cognition on research variables was confirmed. The findings of the present study examined the need for attention and emphasis on the pivotal role of cognitive fatigue variables and the need for cognition on the degree of cognitive flexibility in individuals.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between different levels of cognitive, emotional, and spiritual development with adult psychological well-being. A sample consisted of 700 adults in ages between (20-60) was selected using a convenience sampling method. Questionnaires consisted of Social Paradigm Belief Inventory (SPBI), Spiritual Well-Being (SHALOM), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), Spiritual Assessment Inventory (SAI), BUSS & Perry Aggression Questionnaire – Short form (BPAQ – SF), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale– Short form (CD-RISC-SF), Maladaptive Hedonism Questionnaire, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised(PPIR), Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6), Altruistic Behavior Questionnaire, Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Research data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings showed that relativistic thought affects stress, empathy, and difficulties in emotion regulation. Dialectical thought has a positive effect on empathy and spiritual well-being. Egocentrism has a positive effect on difficulties in emotion regulation and spiritual weakness and a negative effect on Spiritual well-being. Stress has a positive effect on difficulties in emotion regulation. Difficulties in emotion regulation positively affect spiritual weakness and negatively affect Spiritual well-being. Also, Empathy has a positive effect on spiritual wellbeing. Spiritual weakness positively affects aggression, depression, and maladaptive hedonism. But, it negatively affects altruism. Spiritual well-being negatively affects depression and maladaptive hedonism and positively affects resilience, altruism, and gratitude.

Children with ADHD syndrome compared to normal children, have defects in executive functions, including delay-discounting, which leads to prefering smaller and immediate gains rather than bigger and long-term ones and it would result in impulsive behaviors and decision making. The aim of this study was to show the effect of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (VMPFC) on the improvement of delay-discounting among children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Symptoms. In this study, 20 children with hyperactivity and attention deficit symptoms were selected by the availability sampling method and each of the subjects were randomly assigned to three conditions including: a) anodal stimulation of DLPFC and cathodal stimulation of VMPFC, b) anodal stimulation of VMPFC and cathodal stimulation of DLPFC, and c) pseudo-stimulation and assessed by the Delay-Discounting Task. The results of data analysis of variance with repeated measures showed that there is a significant difference in the performance of the subjects in the delay-discounting task, which was performed on different stimulation positions p. In addition, Bonferroni post-hoc test results showed that anodal stimulation of VMPFC and cathodal stimulation of DLPFC compared with a reversed stimulation pattern, significantly improved delay-discounting.

The treatment of Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder as the most common neurodevelopmental disorder, due to widespread destruction and the need for an early and definitive treatment, has shifted toward the use of computer-based technologies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of computer-based cognitive rehabilitation games on the executive functions of children with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder. The study was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test stages and a follow-up stage of 45 days with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all the students with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder in Shiraz elementary school in the winter of 2019. 32 students suffering from Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder were selected as a convenient sample and were allocated into an experimental group and a control group. The Tower of London test, the Stroop test, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test were used. The experimental group received computerbased cognitive rehabilitation games three times a week (15 minutes for each game and with a total of 30 minutes) and the control group was placed on the waiting list. Data were analyzed by the SPSS-24 software using the repeated measures Analysis of Covariance (ANOVA). The results showed that computer-based rehabilitation games had a significant effect on the executive functions of children with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (Sig < 0. 05). In the experimental group, improvements in planning, organization, inhibition and cognitive flexibility elements were observed and after 45 days of the intervention the effects of the treatment were preserved in the experimental group. Therefore, it can be concluded that computer-based cognitive rehabilitation games are an effective and sustainable therapy.