This research involves an investigation of the construct validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-; Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) when compared to the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III COG) to provide evidence for the utility of using the WISC-IV in assessing cognitive abilities according to the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory. The study was conducted using archival data consisting of 92 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 years and 16 years, 11 months referred for a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation at a university-affiliated assessment center. Data for all participants were collected following administration of a battery of measures as part of a neuropsychological evaluation, with tests administered in no particular order. The mean age of children was 9.82 years (SD= 2.81) with a mean grade level of 3.95 (SD= 2.63). Ten hypotheses were investigated specifically to examine the comparability of the general intellectual functioning scores for each battery among a sample of children with neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as to examine the convergent and discriminate validity of the WISC-IV index scores. The first hypothesis utilized a paired samplest&n-test and found that the WISC-IV Full Scale IQ score was significantly below that of the WJ III COG General Intellectual Ability-Extended score. For the remaining hypotheses, Pearson product-moment correlations revealed large correlations between the WISC-IV and WJ III COG convergent constructs of general intellectual functioning, comprehension-knowledge, fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. For correlations between divergent constructs, the WISC-IV Verbal Comprehension Index and the WJ III COG Visual-Spatial Thinking (Gv) factor demonstrated a large correlation. Both the WISC-IV Processing Speed Index and Working Memory Index correlated moderately with the WJ III COGGvfactor, while the WISC-IV Perceptual Reasoning Index correlated moderately with the WJ III COG Auditory Processing factor. Fisher's r to Z transformation was used to assess for significant differences between the observed correlations and stipulated values determined. Results indicated that correlations between the global IQ, fluid reasoning, and short-term memory composite scores of the two measures were significantly greater than that found for the WISC-III and WJ III COG, while the relationship between the verbal ability and processing speed composite scores were consistent with past findings. Correlations between divergent constructs revealed a reliable pattern of significantly greater relationships than was found for research concerning the WISC-III and WJ III COG. Primarily, results of this study provided evidence that the substantive changes made to the WISC-IV have improved the ability to interpret the Full Scale IQ score as a measure of general intelligence similar to that obtained by the WJ III COG. However, the global IQ scores between the two measures cannot be assumed to be equivalent among children with neuropsychiatric disorders. Results also suggested that the WISC-IV appears to provide improved measurement of the CHC broad abilities of fluid reasoning (Gf) and short-term memory (Gsm). Correlations between divergent constructs provided evidence for relationships between cognitive abilities suggested to be significantly related to academic achievement. This study concluded that research findings for the WISC-III cannot be applied conclusively to the WISC-IV and that the substantive changes made to the WISC-IV have improved the ability to interpret the battery under the CHC framework. However, findings underscore the importance of examining performance across second-order factors that may contribute to differences in general intelligence, as well as remaining aware of differences in narrow ability constructs measured, task demands, or shared variance between subtests when making interpretations of test performance.

This study examined the relationship between perceptions of intellectual functioning and measures of cognitive abilities, personality variables and sociodemographic information. One hundred and fifty-two older community residing adults were asked to define their perception of intelligence by completing a questionnaire that asked the extent to which a variety of tasks are: functionally important, contribute to feelings of intellectual vitality and are the object of worry or concern. They also estimated their skill at performing each task. The hypothesis that cognitive abilities would best predict perceptions of cognitive functioning was moderately supported. Personality variables, specifically anxiety, were more predictive of the meaning variables than abilities.

The focus of this study was to determine the unique contribution of I.Q., gender, instructional organization, time on the computer, classroom instructional time, ethnicity and total instructional time to the predictability of achievement gain in a computer-assisted instructional setting in reading. The sample consisted of 2,000 students in grades three and five from a large suburban school district in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. The students were given the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to determine reading achievement gains and the Cognitive Abilities Test to determine I.Q. levels. The study was conducted over a five month period during the 1984 - 1985 school year. Using multiple regression, the data were analyzed.

This work presents study of parrot nestor kea. It is divided into two parts - theoretical and experimental part. Two chapters are dedicated to the theoretical part. This kind of parrot is connected to culture and relationship of local people. The first capture applies to enviroment in New Zealand, its inhabitants and their relationship between each other. The second chapter operates with detailed information about nestors. It's summary of available information about nestors from Czech and also foreign authors. The purpose of experimental part was to find out the possibilities of testing of cognitive abilities in conditions of zoo. We also passed the testing of cognitive abilities. We tried to define the factors that can involve the results of the testing. At the time we also suggested and proved a new system of experimental facility that can be used in our suggested future research. In the end we managed experimental testing of cognitive abilities of this kind of parrot that took place in zoo in Liberec. Key Words: nestor kea, research, cognitive abilities, zoo

Based on the former studies, there is evidence of tinnitus being associated with performance on cognitive ability tests (for example Andersson et al. 2009, Hallam et al. 2004). The topic of my bachelor thesis was to unravel how depression, stress and anxiety connected with tinnitus symptoms are related to cognitive abilities such as verbal fluency, inhibition ability and working memory capacity. In order to fill an existing gap of knowledge, the relationship of different severity of stress caused by tinnitus symptoms as measured with Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and cognitive abilities and depression and anxiety symptoms was emphasized. The experiment group was divided into two subgroups, those with lower and higher level of perceived tinnitus severity and the differences in test scores between groups were investigated with one-way analysis of variance. As a result, significant differences between the two tinnitus patient groups were found in the level of performance in inhibition task where participants were asked to give the font color of congruent color - word pair as an answer. It was also studied whether there were correlations between perceived severity of tinnitus symptoms, depression and anxiety symptoms, working memory capacity and inhibition ability. As a result of correlation analysis, this study confirmed the connection between tinnitus symptoms and anxiety and depression symptoms found in previous studies, and a significant correlation was found between THI scores and anxiety symptoms, and THI scores and C inhibition test scores where the participant was asked to name the font color from incongruent color-word pairs. The results of this study suggest that there is a connection between the level of perceived tinnitus severity and the ability to name font color of incongruent color - word pair. The current study found no evidence about the connection between THI scores and other cognitive abilities as well as anxiety and depression symptoms, even though the THI scores correlated with both anxiety symptom scores and with the reaction times of an inhibition task where the participants were asked to point out the font color from incongruent color - word pairs.

Cognition (i.e. how individuals perceive, process and react to environmental cues) is fundamental to all animals’ life. Despite this, what explains variation in cognitive abilities is still mainly unclear. Environment is assumed to influences cognitive variation, but the mechanisms for this are still unknown. According to the social intelligence hypothesis, living in a group with a rich social environment, generate challenges that can enhance cognitive abilities. Impulsivity (to not be able to inhibit impulses), one aspect of cognition, may be influenced by the social environment, however this has not yet been experimentally tested. Impulsivity can complicate life, both for humans and animals. In humans, high levels of impulsivity and lack of self-control are associated with addictions and psychiatric disorders, thus is considered to be maladaptive. In animals, impulsivity correlates with stereotypies. To improve our understanding of impulsivity, I experimentally investigated how early social environment affects individual variation in impulsivity. To test this, red junglefowl chicks were used because their group living nature, and our accumulated knowledge on their cognition and behaviour. To manipulate the social environment, chicks either grew up in larger groups (with 17 individuals) or smaller groups (with 7 individuals). During the chicks’ first five weeks of life, three aspects of impulsivity were tested; impulsive action, persistence (in a detour reaching test) and routine formation (in a reversal learning test). Chicks that grew up in larger groups tended to perform less impulsive actions, while social environment did not explain variation in persistence. Chicks from larger groups had less strong routine formation compared to chicks raised in smaller groups. This partially supports the social intelligence hypothesis, and suggest that early social life can affect cognitive traits and explain individual variation in such.

Considerando que o Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio influencia práticas de ensino, este trabalho tem como proposta verificar como Situações-problema (ZABALA e ARNAU, 2010) articuladas ao Ensino de Química podem promover o desenvolvimento de Competências e Habilidades exigidas pelo ENEM. Desenvolvemos e aplicamos uma sequência de atividades em um Cursinho Popular Comunitário. Os objetivos de trabalho consistiram em analisar as atividades procurando evidenciar as principais dificuldades conceituais e cognitivas dos alunos na resolução dos problemas, realizar um acompanhamento individual dos estudantes para verificar evoluções ou superações das dificuldades, contribuir com práticas pedagógicas no Ensino de Química, e desenvolver um estudo dos principais documentos oficiais. De forma contraditória as próprias questões do ENEM nem sempre desenvolvem Competências e Habilidades, apresentando um caráter conteudista. Assim, criamos e aplicamos situações que problematizaram o ensino. Os dados deste trabalho foram obtidos através da resolução de questões reelaboradas do próprio ENEM e outras criadas. Como análise de dados foi empregada a ferramenta Análise de Conteúdos proposta por Bardin (1977), apoiando-se em referenciais teóricos que investigam o desenvolvimento de habilidades cognitivas de alta e baixa ordem para a criação de categorias (MARCONDES E SUART (2008) e ZOLLER, (1993)). Os alunos apresentaram melhores rendimentos em questões de baixa ordem cognitiva que, segundo Zoller (1993), significa maior facilidade em recordar a informação, aplicar conhecimentos ou algoritmos memorizados. Quanto ao rendimento em questões que demandaram alta cognição, incialmente apresentou-se baixo, mas após a participação nas sequências de atividades, houve um aumento gradual e significativo. O que representou o domínio de investigação e resolução de problemas muitas vezes pouco familiares aos alunos e a tomada de decisões (ZOLLER, 1993). Acreditamos que conhecer o aluno de forma individualizada foi importante para que pudéssemos acompanhar suas dificuldades e avanços. Diversas foram as razões que comprometeram a resolução adequada dos problemas propostos, como o nível de envolvimento e compreensão dos alunos, a forma de aplicação dos conhecimentos adquiridos, e também, dificuldades conceituais e de raciocínios matemáticos. Apesar das dificuldades, ensinar por meio de competências e habilidades certamente correspondem à forma ideal de ensino. E como educadores temos a obrigação de enfrentar os desafios cotidianos da educação. / Considering that the National Examination of Secondary Education influences teaching practices, this work has as a proposal to verify as Problem Situations (ZABALA e ARNAU, 2010) articulated to the teaching of Chemistry can promote the development of Competences and Skills required by ENEM. We developed and aplied a sequence of activities in a Community Popular Course. The objectives of the study were to analyze the activities seeking to highlight the main conceptual and cognitive difficulties of the students in solving problems, to carry out an individual follow-up of the students to verify evolutions or overcome difficulties, to contribute with pedagogical practices in the teaching of Chemistry, and to develop a study of the main official documents. In a contradictory way the very issues of the E do not always develop Skills and Abilities, presenting a content character. Thus, we create and apply Situations that problematized the teaching. The data of this work were obtained through the resolution of reworked questions of the ENEM itself and other created ones. The data analysis tool was proposed by Bardin (1977), based on theoretical references that investigate the development of high and low order cognitive abilities for the creation of categories (MARCONDES AND SUART (2008) and ZOLLER, (1993)).According to Zoller (1993), the students presented better performance in questions of low order of cognition, which means that it is easier to remember the information, to apply memorized knowledge or algorithms. Concerning income in questions that demand high cognition, it was initially low, but after participation in the sequences of activities, there was a gradual and significant increase. What represented the domain of investigation and resolution of problems often unfamiliar to students and the decision-making (ZOLLER, 1993). We believe that knowing the student in an individualized way was important so that we could follow his difficulties and advances. There were several reasons that compromised the adequate resolution of the proposed problems, such as the level of student involvement and understanding, the application of acquired knowledge, and also conceptual difficulties and mathematical reasoning. Despite the difficulties, teaching through skills and abilities certainly correspond to the ideal form of teaching. And as educators we have an obligation to face the everyday challenges of education.

<p>The present study assessed olfactory and cognitive abilities in two strains of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) model mice and in healthy control mice over a four month time period. To this end an operant conditioning paradigm using an automated olfactometer and a spatial learning test with non-olfactory cues were employed and data on olfactory learning and memory, discrimination, and sensitivity as well as spatial learning and memory were collected. The mice were between 6 to 7 month old at the beginning of the study and 9 to 10 months old at the end of the data collection, that is, in the age range when the animals are supposed to display marked neuroanatomical changes typical of AD. The results demonstrate that there were no systematic differences in olfactory performance and spatial learning and memory abilities of AD model mice and the control mice up to the age they were tested. Further, there was no indication of an age-related decline in performance in any of the mouse strains across the testing period. Several reasons might account for the observed lack of difference in olfactory and cognitive performance between the mouse strains tested here: the AD model mice might not develop amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles at all or they might develop them later than stated by the supplier. Alternatively, the AD model mice may have developed AD-typical neuroanatomical changes but these do not, or not yet, affect their olfactory performance and/or spatial learning and memory capabilities. Ongoing data collection will help to evaluate which of these explanations holds true.</p>

The present study assessed olfactory and cognitive abilities in two strains of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) model mice and in healthy control mice over a four month time period. To this end an operant conditioning paradigm using an automated olfactometer and a spatial learning test with non-olfactory cues were employed and data on olfactory learning and memory, discrimination, and sensitivity as well as spatial learning and memory were collected. The mice were between 6 to 7 month old at the beginning of the study and 9 to 10 months old at the end of the data collection, that is, in the age range when the animals are supposed to display marked neuroanatomical changes typical of AD. The results demonstrate that there were no systematic differences in olfactory performance and spatial learning and memory abilities of AD model mice and the control mice up to the age they were tested. Further, there was no indication of an age-related decline in performance in any of the mouse strains across the testing period. Several reasons might account for the observed lack of difference in olfactory and cognitive performance between the mouse strains tested here: the AD model mice might not develop amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles at all or they might develop them later than stated by the supplier. Alternatively, the AD model mice may have developed AD-typical neuroanatomical changes but these do not, or not yet, affect their olfactory performance and/or spatial learning and memory capabilities. Ongoing data collection will help to evaluate which of these explanations holds true.

Abstract This paper is based on the study of a special education teacher who tutoring a particular child in a kindergarten, evaluating the effects of the case of its social abilities and cognitive abilities learning after a tutoring service. The study object is a heavy degree of retarded child with the age of five years and five months old. This paper is to apply the method of quality case study, starting from the evaluation of the basic ability of the case to involve in a four times of social abilities learning program and tutoring, for one year of period. It is to make an essential record in detail of the social abilities in the process of the cognitive abilities learning and performance, and to re-evaluate the result and its effects of the case situation after the itinerant teaching service. This study found : (A) A good improvement in the social abilities of the case, by means of the tutoring and a four-times social teaching program, especially of the interaction with its peer group , and also with a good progress in the adaptability to the environment, but not showing the eminent result in the interaction with adults. (B) A good improvement in the cognitive abilities learning, with the increasing of the time length in the concentration about the aspects of seeing, listening, and playing, a good progress in the cognition of self-conception, and basic skills of learning in writing, reading. The case has gradually developed a reading habit. As to the numeric conception and memory shows little progress, but not found in the improvement of the logic thinking.