فصلنامه روانشناسی شناختی

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder that is characterized by abdominal pain, discomfort and change in the intestinal habits. The aim of this study was the comparison of brain oscillations features between patients with IBS and healthy control, speciallity in alpha frequency band by using rest-electroencephalography (EEG). 11 IBS patients (7 females and 4 male) and 11 healthy (7 females and 4 male), gender and age-matched, were selected and brain oscillations were recorded by a 64-channel EEG at rest in eye-closed condition. Alpha power, peak alpha frequency and frontal alpha asymmetry were calculated and analyzed by fast Fourier transform and independent t test. The results showed that in IBS group, the average of alpha was higher, the peak alpha frequency and frontal alpha asymmetry are lower than healthy control. Our findings indicated that difference between healthy control and IBS group in their cortical functions and generated brain wave oscillation, specifically in alpha frequency bands. Theses results may serve as a biomarker and prognostic tools for IBS treatments.

Unethical decision-making could be considered as both selfish and self-beneficial in addition to being aimed at benefiting others. The aim of this study was to investigate the differential relationship among the sense of power, the sense of status and status seeking styles (i.e., prestige and dominance) with two forms of unethical decision-making. Participants were 150 citizens of Tehran, who voluntary participated in this study. Data were gathered by the sense of power scale, the sense of status scale, the dominance-prestige scale, and the unethical decision-making questionnaire (self-beneficial and other-beneficial forms). The multiple regression analysis showed that dominance was positively and prestige was negatively associated with self-beneficial unethical decision-making, whereas dominance was positively associated with other-beneficial unethical decision-making. The relationship between the sense of power and the sense of status with two forms of unethical decision-making was not significant. The results of this study supported the conceptual distinction between two forms of unethical decision-making. It seems that the sense of power or the sense of status alone could not explain unethical decision-making, and status seeking styles (i.e., prestige and dominance) would be the main mental mechanisms which contribute to the tendency for unethical decision-making.

The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of computer cognitive empowerment on the attentional functions, concentration and cognitive effort of the elderly. Metods This study was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. Participants were 30 elderly people who were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (Each group includes 15 people). Instruments included Captain's Log cognitive software and D2 test. Data analysis was performed using analysis of covariance. Data analysis using analysis of covariance showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of pre-test and post-test in the experimental and control groups (p <0.001). The results of this study show that computer cognitive empowerment can be used as an effective method to improve attention, concentration and cognitive effort in the elderly.

The purpose of this research was to develop and validate the educational package of cognitive-emotional empowerment and its effectiveness on working memory and emotional recognition of sixth grade female students. The research method is considered to be fundamental and applied in terms of its purpose, and the research is considered to be hybrid-exploratory. The statistical population of the research in the qualitative part included Persian and English specialized books and articles in the field of cognitive-emotional empowerment in the last 20 years, which were selected by the purposeful sampling method of the sample group. Then the components of cognitive-emotional empowerment were extracted and coded with the qualitative method of thematic analysis. Finally, the package of cognitive-emotional empowerment was compiled during twelve sessions and its formal and content validity was confirmed by experts. The research method in the quantitative part was a semi-experimental type with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this research includes all the female students of the sixth grade of elementary school in 1400-1401 who were studying in schools in Tehran. The sample size includes 30 people from the statistical population selected by available sampling method and they were placed in two control and experimental groups. For the experimental group, the developed program of cognitive-emotional empowerment was implemented, while the control group did not receive training. The research tools included numerical span test (Wechsler, 2003) and facial emotion recognition test (Ekman and Friesen, 2003). The results showed that the cognitive-emotional empowerment intervention had a significant effect on improving working memory and emotional recognition in the post-test and follow-up stages.