فصلنامه روانشناسی شناختی

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The present research aims at comparing the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Behavioral Activation Therapy (BAT) in the improvement of cognitive functions (working memory and simple reaction time) in the heroin abusers in Afghanistan.
To this end, through a semi-experimental design including two groups with pre test and post test, 30 heroine abusers referring to the abstinence center of Universal Kabul Physicians were selected by the availability sampling and were then divided into the two groups of experimental 1 (CBT) and expeerimental2 (BAT).  Both groups were first administered the Working Memory Inventory, one of the subscales of Wexler Memory Test (the third edition) and the Stroop software to be evaluated on the working memory and the reaction time. Then the experimental group1 was administered cognitive behavioral therapy and the experimental group2 was administered behavioral activation therapy within 10 sessions of group therapy.
The analysis of the findings indicates that there is a significant difference between the two groups in terms of working memory and simple reaction time. The findings indicate that behavioral –cognitive therapy is more effective in the improvement of working memory and the behavioral activation therapy is more effective in the decrease of the reaction time of heroine abusers. Therefore, both therapy methods are applicable in the improvement of cognitive functions for heroine abusers.  
 

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In this study was tested the effect of psychology pressures on the serial reaction time task. In this research served 75 right-handed participants, were randomly assigned to three experimental condition (each group consisted of 25 students), including the outcome pressure, monitoring pressure and control groups. First of all groups practice serial reaction time and then test stage was performed by applying pressure conditions for the group. Results repeated measures ANOVA showed that subjects in the monitoring pressure group had decrement performance higher than the other groups in the test phase. Skill failure and success depends in part on how the performance environment influences attention and the extent to which skill execution depends on explicit attentional control.

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The aim of present Study was The effectiveness of neurocognitive Executive Functions based Play Therapy on improv the ability Response Inhibition,planning-organization and working memory with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD: This study was a quasi-experimental design with pre test and post test control group. The study population consisted of children ages 7-12 years old was diagnosed with ADHD in mashhad city, Through Convenience Sampling ,Twenty four student with this disorder in Taha boys' primary school(District 5 Khorasan Razavi) were identified Through introducing the consultants and the SNAP-IV scale and Were randomaly embedded into both control and experimental groups Based on even and odd list. . Both groups were evaluated in two pre and post-test stages With software version of the Tower of London and stroop and Instrumental version Wechsler digit span test. The experimental group participated as a group in 12 sessions of Executive Functions based Play Therapy. The data were analyzed With univariate covariance analysis(ANCOVA). The result showed Executive Functions based Play Therapy significantly decreased in the post test interference score, delay time), and test time) and total time and data span a significant increase in direct and revers.neurological Functions based Play Therapy is recommended be used as a Natural Approach and non-instrumental as an effective psychological intervention in Designing and Presentation treatment protocols of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

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Aim of this research was exploring effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) on working memory (WM) in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) region in healthy people.The method used in this research was experimental with random assignment and control group. The population was male students of Kharazmi university in range of 18 to 23 years old. Thirty participant undertook three experimental sessions in which they received 15 minutes of  2 mA anodal TDCS or sham TDCS. After and before stimulation participant performed n-back task to measure reaction time and correct answers. After analysis of covariance there was significant  statistically changing in reaction time and correct answers.The results shows that anodal stimulation reduced reaction time and increased correct answers and it seems made enhance on working memory

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The aim of this research was to investigate visual-spatial component of working memory and short-term memory in students with learning disorders and comparison with normal students.
30 3rd grade elementary students with learning disorders and 10 3rd grade elementary normal students were selected through multistage random cluster sampling. The instruments were Scale for Identifying Students with Spelling Learning Disability, Keymath Test, Reading Level Diagnostic Test, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), Clinical Interview and Corsi Blocks Task for assessing visual-spatial component of working memory and short-term memory. Data were analyzed by ANOVA. The results showed that there is a significant difference between students with reading, mathematics and spelling learning disorders and normal students in visual-spatial component of working memory and short-term memory. Students with mathematics disorder had lower performance in these components.  Students with learning disorders particularlymathematics disorder had deficits in visual-spatial component of working memory and short-term memory. This problem should be assessed in order to plan appropriate interventions.
 

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the amount of performance in working memory, and also comparing the dimensions of behavioral activation system (BAS) and behavioral inhibition system (BIS) in different levels of stress. For this purpose, first, 560 persons of high school adolescent students (including boys and girls) of Hamadan's schools were selected through a multistage cluster sampling. After the initial data analysis, 87 of them, based on final score distribution (Z Standard) were chosen. Finally, in order to test the hypothesis of this study, participants were have studied to measure working memory and behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation systems. The collected data were analyzed using a Multivariate analysis of variance, ANOVA and post hoc tests. Results showed that there is no significant interaction between gender and stress variables considering the working memory and behavioral inhibition and activation system. On the other hand, results showed that high stress levels can lead to a decline in working memory function and participants with high levels of stress were also at higher level in terms of activity of behavioral activation system (BAS) and behavioral inhibition system (BIS).

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Since working memory capacity (WMC) predicts individual differences in the wide range of abilities, this experiment tested the effect of WMC on time perception in preschool children.
At first, 108 children’s working memory capacity were measured by CANTAB tests and then 21 children with high working memory capacity and 20 children with low working memory capacity were assigned. Then, both groups performed two reproduction tasks they instructed to reproduce 700 and 3000 millisecond intervals in mono task, and to reproduce 3000 ms with a performing concurrent non-temporal task as a dual task. Data analyzed by mixed design ANOVA and post hoc tests. Results showed that in mono task, accuracy of high WMC was better than the low WMC group. In dual task, although there was no significant difference in the accuracy of reproduction task, children with high WMC had better performance in non-temporal task. Furthermore, children with low WMC were more variable performance than high WMC in all intervals.
 

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of emotional working memory training on improving cognitive control of participants with high trait anxiety symptoms. This study was based on a quasi-experimental design pretest& posttest with active control group. 28 students from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad with high scores on trait anxiety, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were voluntarily selected, according to available sampling. 14 people in both experimental and active control groups were matched and randomly assigned into two groups. To measure cognitive control color-word Stroop test was used. Persian Emotional Working Memory Training was used with the experimental group and Shape Matched Training Task was used with the active control group To analyze the results multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted The results showed a significant difference in cognitive control components (congruent reaction time, incongruent reaction time and interference score) between the two groups.
 

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The present research aims to compare the cognitive performance of the adolescents suffering from MDD and PTSD in the working memory and information processing. the selected sample in this casual-comparative study included 15 MDD patients, 15 youth PTSD subjects and 15 normal subjects who were matched by age, IQ, sex as well as social and economic status variables. The tool package employed in this investigation comprised child depression inventory (CDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Impact of Event Scale (IES-R), Wechsler’s Memory and Intelligence Test, and The Information Processing Index Test. Findings were analyzed using the ANOVA, MANOVA analysis statistical method.as indicated by our result, in the verbal memory there is a significant difference between groups of depression and PTSD and between depressed and normal subjects. in the reverse spatial working memory there are significant differences between normal and PTSD. in the visual memory and information processing, the significant difference is between normal and both PTSD and depressed.The findings of this study confirm the disorders of working memory and speed of information processing in adolescents with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

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The failures of memory function in post-traumatic stress disorder and its relationship with severity of symptoms need to take new approaches to improve the memory performance in patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the Effectiveness of emotional working memory Training on improvement memory in adolescents with Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For this purpose, 4 adolescents (M: 2 F: 2) were selected available sampling by using 2 instruments (SCID-I) & (IES-R) The selected people– one by one were under emotional working memory training during 20 sessions. All people were assessed during three stages (pre-training, post- training and 2 month follow up) by children' Wechsler Digit Span Test (direct and reverse). Data were analyzed using the indices for trend changes, slope and the visual inspection of the charts; recovery percent index and effect size were used to determine the clinical significance. The results showed that emotional working memory training lead to increase in ability of participants in memory from pretest to follow up who suffering from Post- Traumatic Stress Disorders. Regarding the current study, it can be said that emotional working memory training is an appropriate choice for increase in memory in adolescents suffering from Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the CNS that due to cognitive impairment, can reduce the quality of life in these patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate effect of computerized cognitive rehabilitation on prospective & working memory function in Multiple Sclerosis patients. 46 MS patients aged 20–40 who have the inclusion criteria, were randomly assigned to experimental and waiting-list control groups. Experimental group trained for 12 session with a Memory rehabilitation software and waiting-list control group did not receive any intervention and training of this group was postponed after conducting research. Daneman and Carpenter's capacity working memory and Retrospective-Prospective Memory Scale was applied at pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The results of repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant difference between the means of working memory in experimental and waiting-list control groups. Also, the results of the present study indicate that a significant difference between the means of prospective memory in experimental and waiting-list control groups. Moreover, the post-test and follow-up scores in the experimental group was not statistically different. So Computerized cognitive rehabilitation have significant effect on prospective and working memory performance in patients with Multiple sclerosis and it can be used as an effective and helpful method to improve memory performance of these patients.

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working memory is the comprehensive cognitive system that embedded attentional and memorical mechanisms and therefore can be used in systematic research of cognitive problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive role of working memory capacity and executive functions (shifting, inhibition and updating) for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  We selected 164 student   (90 male and 74 female)    from university of Tehran with random sampling method  and they completed Maudsley Obsessional – Compulsive Inventory (Hodgson & Rachman, 1977), the Digit Backward Span Task (workingmemory capacity), Forward Span task (Short Term Memory), Stroop (inhibition, Spreen & Strauss, 1998), Set- Switching Task (shifting, Rogers & Monsell, 1995) and Keep Track Task (updating, Martinez, et al., 2011). Data analyzing used regression showed working memory and executive function totally predict considerable amount (67 percent) of obsessive compulsive predisposition. Therefore it can be concluding, obsessive people have crucial weakness in storage, monitoring and executive cognitive function (in general attention control) and we can use training in these functions as treatment strategies.

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Obesity is one of the most important problems which threatens the global health. Healthcare organizations spend a
large amount of money to predict and treat obesity every year. The most common treatment for obesity is
concentrated on shaping a new lifestyle with more exercise and healthy diet. But a multitude of dieters fail. In this study, the role of cognitive processing in dieters` success or fail was investigated. Participants were
successful (N= 42) and unsuccessful (N= 45) dieters between 18 and 40 years old. Attentional bias, positive
implicit association, and working memory capacity were measured by dot-probe task, a modified
version of implicit association test (IAT), and N-Back task. Results indicated that unsuccessful dieters showed
greater attentional bias to (d= 0.69) and more food preferences for (d= 1.06) high-calorie food pictures.
Nevertheless, there was no significant difference in implicit associations for high calorie food and in working memory capacity between the groups. These results were congruent with some previous studies and they were discussed based on dual-processing model.
 

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In working memory (WM) tasks, performance can be boosted by directing attention to one memory object: When a retro-cue in the retention interval indicates which object will be tested, responding is faster and more accurate (theretro-cue benefit). This study tests explanations of the retro-cue benefits in 2 experiment desined by superlab software: Experiment 1, the effect of valid and invalid retro-cues compared with no-cues were tested before the  memory test. Experiment 2, We tested whether the retro-cue benefit in WM depends on sustained attention to the cued object by inserting an attention-demanding interruption task between the retro-cue and the memory test. In this quasi-experimental study, with a series of repeated measurements, 30 individual (15 for each test) from graduate students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad were selected by convenience sampling and were tested. Data analysis of variance with repeated measurements and t-test for paired samples were also analyzed. The result showed that valid retro-cue compared to the no-cue was better. Also, it was shown when visual interference was held constant, retro-cue benefits were still obtained whenever the retro-cue enabled retrieval of an object from VWM but delayed response selection. The results showed that retro-cue improved visual working memory performance.
 

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mind wandering is a pervasive and common phenomenon of human cognition that its role in performance of any field related to mind is undeniable. This study plans to investigate The causal relationship of mindfulness and mind wandering with mediating strategical engagement regulation, anxiety, depression and working memory. To this, 434 female students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz were selected by multistage random sampling method and They got Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Strategic Engagement Regulation Scale, Stress Anxiety Depression Scale, Stress Anxiety Depression Scale, The Working Memory Questionnaire and The Mind Wandering: Deliberate and Mind Wandering: Spontaneous Scale. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS and AMOS (version 21) and using structural equations modelling method. In order to earn the suitable model fitness indices, the item parceling method was used about mindfulness variable. Finally, on the base of values of some indices (for example, RMSEA = 0/06 and GFI = 0/98), model had a good fit. Also, all paths of the model except two paths: anxiety to working memory and anxiety to mind wandering were significant. In sum, this research results showed that mindfulness plays important role in mind wandering anticipation that transfers this effect through mechanisms as self-regulation, mood and working memory. 

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Aim: The being of impairments in executive functions could lead to weakness individual control on health behaviors and cigarette consumption. The aim of present research was to investigate effectiveness of comprehensive intervention in order to retraining executive functions in smokers. Method: A randomized controlled trial design with pre-posttest and two monthly follow up was applied. The study population included all smoker men in the summer 2016 in Gorgan city. A number of 60 eligible adult smokers were chosen according to specific inclusion and exclusion criteria of the research and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The Fagerstrom questionnaire for assessment of cigarette dependence was administered to two groups people. The experiment group then received 10 sessions (twice weekly) retraining of executive functions (Working Memory and Inhibitory Control), whereas in the control (placebo) group a placebo intervention like the original tasks were performed. The Fagerstrom questionnaire was again performed at post-test and in one month and two month follow up stages in both groups. Results: A repeated measure GLM: Multivariate Analysis of Variance showed significant differences between two groups in Fagerstrom in posttest and two follow up stages. Conclusion: Overall, the retraining executive functions intervention was effective on cigarette dependency and could use from this intervention in cigarette treatment programs. 

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The aim of this study was to investigate the Improvement cognitive inhibition of children with attention deficit / hyperactivity in the context of emotional working memory training. The 20 children with attention deficit / hyperactivity were selected available sampling and using diagnostic tools (SCID-I and SNAF-IV) and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The experimental group were trained in emotional working memory for 15 sessions of 40-30 minutes during 15 days, while the control group did not receive such training. Both groups were tested in pre-test and post-test by classic Stroop test. The results of multivariate analysis of covariance showed that emotional working memory training has leads to Improvement cognitive inhibition in the experimental groups in comparison with the control group. Thus, it can be concluded that that emotional working memory training can as a viable option for improvement cognitive inhibition in children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder be regard to specialists and researchers

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Abstract
Working memory is the comprehensive cognitive system that embedded attentional and memorial mechanisms and therefore can be used in systematic research of cognitive problems. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the developmental changes of working memory capacity, and its components, including phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and central executive (inhibition and updating). A total of 356 children (8 and 12 years) recruited from primary school in Tehran were selected and tested. Digit Span, and the Kim Karad Visual Memory Test were used for measuring phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad. Working memory capacity was measured by Backward Digit Span, and finally, the Stroop Task, and the Keep Track task measured central executive. Data analyzing showed as child growth, working memory and its components become more effective. More skills in arithmetic abilities, more flexibility in storage and processing, more experience in academic achievement and more use of metacognitive strategies can be possible reasons for the results of this study.

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The purpose of this study was to examine psychometric characteristics of memory scale: measure of everbody functions of memory in students. The research design is a correlation type. The population of this study is all students of elementary schools in Semnan city. 220 students were selected by cluster random sampling method and their parents responded to the memory scale (Geurtin et al., 2018). SPSS-22 and Lisrel 8.54 were used for data analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, multivariate analysis of variance and rock curves. In the context of construct validity there was a significant difference between the two groups; normal students and students with learning disabilities in all components of memory; effortful/intentional learning, automatic/procedural learning, working memory and prospective memory/organization. In the context of the discriminant validity, the levels below the rock curve for each component showed the ability to differentiate between normal students and students with learning disabilities. The memory scale has an internal consistency and a good stability coefficient. The results of the factor analysis showed that this scale was made up of four factors of effortful/intentional learning, automatic/procedural learning, working memory and prospective memory/organization. Cronbach's alpha for effortful/intentional learning was 0.86, prospective memory/organization of 0.77, working memory 0.70, and , automatic/procedural learning 0.82 and for the whole scale 0.93. Findings of the research indicate that the Persian version of the memory questionnaire in the students’ community has acceptable psychometric properties.