Four individual profiles of ways toward happiness were found on a Slovene sample: Full, Empty, Pleasurable, and Meaningful life types. The present study aimed to validate these four types in samples from seven different countries (N = 3690) utilising four different languages. Participants completed the Orientation towards Happiness Scale and measures of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, and ill-being. A two-step cluster analysis was performed with each of the seven country samples. A highly congruent, highly internally replicable four-cluster solution was found in all seven samples. Full and Empty life individuals have high and low scores on all three orientations to happiness, respectively. Pleasurable and Meaningful types reflect two traditional philosophic orientations: Pleasurable life individuals scored high on pleasure, average on engagement and low on meaning orientation, while Meaningful life individuals had high scores on meaning, average on engagement, and low scores on pleasure orientation. The four types differed in subjective happiness and psychological well-being with full life type characterized by the highest scores on subjective happiness and psychological well-being, and Empty life by the lowest scores. On the other hand, depressive symptoms were likely to be the lowest in the Full life type and the highest in the Empty life type. Meaningful and Pleasurable life types were characterized by moderate well- and ill-being, but the two types tended not to differ from each other on the measures used.
COBISS.SI-ID: 57814114
The article is the first part of a two-part survey on the use of the electroencephalogram (EEG) method in the analysis of (literary) reading. The authors first present the EEG method and the content of the EEG recording. The latter registers continuous changes in voltage on the head's surface (article I), which reflect changes in the brain's rhythm (article II). After that, they focus on the method of ERP averaging, with which they observe average changes in the electrophysiological signals between numerous repetitions of the thought experiment; that enables a precise recording of the changes in brain activity during reading of a certain word, word phrase, or sentence. The results of the ERP studies represent a referential framework for tackling experimental research in brain activity during reading of literary texts.
COBISS.SI-ID: 57972578
There is a growing body of evidence that subtle deficits in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) may be present in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, it is not clear if there are IADL domains that are consistently affected across patients with MCI. In this systematic review, therefore, we aimed to summarize research results regarding the performance of MCI patients in specific IADL (sub)domains compared with persons who are cognitively normal and/or patients with dementia. The databases PsycINFO, PubMed and Web of Science were searched for relevant literature. 37 articles were included in the review. In 35 studies, IADL deficits (such as problems with medication intake, telephone use, keeping appointments, finding things at home and using everyday technology) were documented in patients with MCI. Financial capacity in patients with MCI was affected in the majority of studies. Effect sizes for group differences between patients with MCI and healthy controls were predominantly moderate to large. Performance-based instruments showed slight advantages (in terms of effect sizes) in detecting group differences in IADL functioning between patients with MCI, patients with Alzheimer’s disease and healthy controls. IADL requiring higher neuropsychological functioning seem to be most severely affected in patients with MCI. A reliable identification of such deficits is necessary, as patients with MCI with IADL deficits seem to have a higher risk of converting to dementia than patients with MCI without IADL deficits. The use of assessment tools specifically designed and validated for patients with MCI is therefore strongly recommended. Furthermore, the development of time-efficient and easy-to-administer performance-based assessment instruments which should include technology-associated IADL should be intensified.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2178988
The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between gender, previous knowledge, different personality traits, subject-specific motivational dimensions and students` math grade in secondary school. A total of 386 first-year students (142 boys and 244 girls) from secondary schools in Slovenia (mean age was 15.7 years) participated in the study. Different measures were used to assess students` previous knowledge, personality traits, subject-specific interest, self-efficacy, immediate action and procrastination/distractibility. Path analysis was used to test the model of direct effects of gender, previous knowledge and personality traits on math grade and indirect effects of previous knowledge and personality traits on the grade through subject-specific motivational variables. The results of path analysis revealed that we can explain 40 % of the variance in math grade with variables included in the research. Gender, previous knowledge and personality traits have direct and indirect impacts on achievement. Among personality variables, conscientiousness proved to be the most important direct and indirect predictor of math grade. A significant part of variance in math grade can be explained by taking into account more general individual differences on the one hand and subject-specific motivational processes, which act as mediators, on the other hand. In promoting students` math achievement, teachers should take into account students` personality traits and try to develop their motivational self-regulation.
COBISS.SI-ID: 56471906
Synchronization between prefrontal (executive) and posterior (association) cortices seems a plausible mechanism for temporary maintenance of information. However, while EEG studies reported involvement of (pre)frontal midline structures in synchronization, functional neuroimaging elucidated the importance of lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in working memory (WM). As oscillatory EEG activity is working memory load dependent, we applied an individually tailored submaximal load for verbal (V) and spatial (S) task to enhance synchronization in the relevant functional networks. To map these networks, we used high-density EEG and coherence analysis. Our results imply that the synchronized activity is limited to highly specialized areas that correspond well with the areas identified by functional neuroimaging. In both verbal and spatial task, two independent networks of theta synchronization involving dorsolateral PFC of each hemisphere were revealed. In V task, left prefrontal and left parietal areas were functionally coupled in gamma frequencies.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2504108