فصلنامه تازه های علوم شناختی
سال بیست و دوم شماره 4 (پیاپی 88، زمستان 1399)

Voluntary actions are preceded by neuro-electrophysiological “Bereitschaftspotential (BP) or Readiness Potential” (RP). The Readiness Potential (RP) is a slow negative shift in neuro-electrical potential generated by the brain that begins at about a second or more before a self-paced voluntary motor act. Benjamin Libet’s famous experimental findings led us to conclude that voluntary acts can be initiated by unconscious cerebral processes before any conscious “willing or intention to act” appears. This empirical finding strongly challenges the old notion of “free will” which argued that the conscious intention or free will initiates the onset of the specific cerebral processes that mediate the act. Later researchers have found that RPs were absent or reduced in brain illnesses like Parkinson disease and some mental disorders like Tourette’s syndrome. Based on Libet’s method, the present study aimed to examine the differences of Readiness Potential’s components (Peak and latency) among persons with bulimia Nervosa compared to the control (normal) group. Also, this research investigated and compared the perceived time of willing to action (W time) and the perceived time of action itself (M time) between the groups. Bulimia nervosa, as a mental health condition and an eating disorder, is characterized by eating much food and then taking inappropriate steps to prevent weight gain, such as vomiting or misusing laxatives. People living with bulimia feel that they are not in control of how much food they consume during an episode of binge eating and subsequent purging, which usually occurs at least once a week. Binge eating refers to eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time. Purging refers to the attempts to get rid of the food or calories consumed.

Thirty-six subjects (19 with bulimia and 17 normal) participated in two 40- trial blocks. In the two blocks, subjects were asked to press a key at any time they felt the “willing” or desire to do so. In the first block, subjects reported the perceived time of will to act of pressing the key, (W) and in the second block, they reported the time of pressing the key itself (M). Reports of W time (in the first block) and M time (in the second block) depended upon the subject’s recall of the spatial Libet’s clock- position of a revolving spot at the time of her/his initial awareness of doing (M)/intending (W) to press the key. During all procedures the 64-channels EEG was recorded.

Results showed that no significant differences in “W time” and “M time” between the groups. Nevertheless, EEG data from the “W block” showed a significant difference between the bulimia and normal groups in the “peak component” of CP1, CP5 and PZ Channels. Peak components of these channels were more significant in the bulimia group than in the normal one.

As these significant channels are related to the parietal lobe, and the parietal lobe is related to awareness of willing to act, the current study’s findings show that the awareness of will and intention to act among persons with bulimia nervosa is disturbed at the neuroscientific level.

Stuttering is known as the most prevalent mental speech disorder. Studies indicate a direct relationship between stuttering and poor attention control. People with stuttering have difficulty concentrating and adjusting attention. Because of difficulty in stuttering treatment as the child grows and ages, it is essential to follow up on this disorder in childhood. Scientists use various therapies, including cognitive therapy, art therapy, and hypnosis, to treat stutterers. Numerous studies have supported the benefits of exercise in controlling cognitive processes, including selective attention, planning, organization, flexibility, and retention associated with working memory.  Recently, researchers have recognized that instead of using a simple aerobic exercise, using physical activities with a cognitive approach is more beneficial for cognition development. In the present study, a racket sport, ping pong, is used for intervention. Research has shown that ping pong exercises as a physical and cognitive physical activity can improve attention and concentration. Therefore, the present study aimed to study the effect of a ping-pong training session on selective attention and stuttering severity in children with stuttering.

 The present study was a case study. In this study, the A-B-A-B design was used. Two boys and a girl with the stuttering disorder ranged 6 to 7 years old were selected. The code of ethics (IR.UI.REC.1398.034) was obtained from the Scientific Research Committee of the University of Isfahan, and the childrenchr('39')s parents completed the consent form. The intervention consisted of 24 sessions of ping pong exercises intending to improve selective attention. Selective attention and stuttering intensity were assessed by the Stroop test and stuttering intensity scale, respectively.  Stroop and stuttering intensity tests were used at intervals of one day between (5 times) to achieve childchr('39')s first baseline (A). Then, the children entered the first intervention stage (B). Intervention time for each child was 16 sessions of ping pong exercises, three sessions a week. In the second stage, the intervention was stopped for one month, and only Stroop and stuttering tests were taken from children (Achr('39')). Then, in the second stage, the intervention was performed again for one month. After that, in the second intervention phase, one month of the intervention was performed again, in which the subjects practiced for eight sessions (Bchr('39')). In this phase, participants entered the training process, and after each training session, the mentioned tests were retaken.

After analyzing the data, the results of the present study showed that the percentage of non-overlapping points (PND) of the subjects for selective attention was 18%, 75% and, 66%, respectively, and the percentage of non-overlapping points (PND) for stuttering intensity, respectively 72%, 68%, and 75% were obtained. Since the higher, the percentage of non-overlapping data, the more confident the intervention can be considered effective. So, according to the obtained results, ping pong exercises were effective on selective attention and the severity of stuttering in children.

Findings of the present study revealed that ping pong exercises were effective in improving selective attention. According to previous studies, ping pong exercises require complex physical coordination and adaptation to constant change, so hard-working cognitive processing requires high cognitive control, decision speed, and especially attention and concentration to improve cognitive functions. In addition, the results of the present study showed that ping-pong exercises were also effective in reducing the severity of stuttering in children. Besides, the research has indicated that there is a relationship between speech mastery and attention. Ping-pong exercises may have reduced stuttering in children by improving selective attention and inhibitory control. The present study is a single case study. It is suggested that in future research, researchers conduct a similar study with a larger sample size so that the results are generalizable.

One of the critical conditions for maintaining a skilled workforce is to create a healthy and safe work environment through which the negative job consequences are reduced, and the positive job outcomes of skilled human resources of organizations and institutions are increased. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of job role stressors and mental motivation concerning mediation on stress arousal on nurseschr('39') job outcomes.

The present studychr('39')s statistical population was all nurses working in hospitals, west of Mazandaran province (1878 people in 2019). The sample size was obtained based on the structural equation sampling method, i.e., according to the five main paths of the model, the number of markers is 12, the number of marker errors is 12 parameters, the number of covariance is one parameter, and the hidden variable errors are two parameters. According to the number of research parameters, assumed causal model (32 parameters) in this study, 11 people were selected for each parameter, and a total of 352 people were studied. In this study, the job stress questionnaire of House & Rizzo (1970), the job satisfaction questionnaire of Linz employees (2003), the standard questionnaire of the tendency to leave the job of Longo and Mura (2011), Standard Job Performance Questionnaire for Motowidlo and Scotter Employees (1994), Abd-El-Fattah and Yates (2006) Stimulus Stimulation Scale of Smith et al. (2012) were used. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling using SPSS-24 and torque structure analysis software AMOS-23.

The results revealed that the proposed model has a good fit in all fitness indicators. Data analysis results showed that job role stressors have a direct effect on job results among nurses. (Role-to-performance conflict coefficient (β=-0.20) and job satisfaction (β=-0.23). Furthermore, mental imagery has a direct effect on job results among nurses. The intrinsic intelligence coefficient has a direct effect on performance (β=0.28) and job satisfaction (β=0.20), as well as between stress arousal and job results. Anxiety coefficient to performance (β=-0.32) and job satisfaction (β=-0.22); Mental rumination to performance (β=-0.25) and job satisfaction (β=-0.16); Physiological response to performance (β=-0.19) and job satisfaction (β=-0.21); Emotional integration into performance (β=-0.17) and job satisfaction (β=-0.22). In the presence of the mediating variable of stress arousal, job role stressors and mental preparation have an indirect effect on job results.

In general, the present study results showed that stress arousal has a significant role in the relationship between job outcomes with job role stressors and mental preparation in nurses in western Mazandaran province. Considering the vital role of stress arousal on nurseschr('39') job outcomes, managers and officials of health centers must pay attention to this matter. Besides, it is suggested to study the causes and appropriate strategies to reduce job stress. Also, holding training workshops on teaching strategies to deal with stress, strengthen mental preparation, and improve the nurses’ job performance. As with other studies, this study has several limitations that must be considered to generalize its findings. Among the limitations of the present study, we can mention the design of the present study and the use of cross-sectional methods, which will not lead to stability of results. The present study was performed only on nurses in the west of Mazandaran province, limiting the results’ generalization of. Another limitation of this research is the respondents’ psychological state during the response, which may have affected their behavior, which was not under the researcherchr('39')s control.

Social skills are one of the necessities of social life that most children with autism have a defect in these skills. Social skills impairment is the cause of many problems in social and communication situations.  They have severe problems in other areas, including daily activity skills. This research focuses more on communication and social problems. Therefore, the present study aims to develop cognitive rehabilitation games to improve children’s social function with autism disorder.

The research method in terms of collecting information was the semi-experimental type with pre-test and post-test, and the control group and in terms of purpose, it was the applied type. The statistical population included all autistic children of Yazd Educational and Rehabilitation centers in 2019. Of the total target population, 18 autistic children were randomly selected and assigned to the experimental group (N=9) and the control group (N=9). The intervention program was implemented for three consecutive months in 12 consecutive sessions for the experimental group. This intervention program was implemented for the control group to comply with the ethical principles of the research. Also, testimonial was received from each of the participants in this study. If they were reluctant to continue the cooperation, they could leave the research. A social profile questionnaire was used to collect data. This social profile questionnaire was standardized on Iranian samples by Rezayi (2019). The social skills profile has 48 questions or items with three quizzes on a four-point Likert scale (never, sometimes, often, always). Its total validity coefficient using Cronbachchr('39')s alpha method is 0.90, and the validity coefficient of its components is reported to be social interaction with the coefficient of validity 0.98, social participation 0.92, and immature social behaviors 0.85, respectively. Features of this profile represent a wide range of social behaviors, such as initiation skills, two-way social interactions, perspective, and nonverbal communication skills that individuals with autism spectrum disorder display in social and communicative situations. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods such as mean, variance, and univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) test by SPSS-22 software.

The analyzed results by ANCOVA revealed that the cognitive rehabilitation intervention program had a significant effect on all three social function variables, i.e., social interaction, social participation, and immature social behaviors, although the level of significance was not the same for all three variables. The results obtained in this study were coextensive with the results of many similar studies. Adverse findings were also obtained because they were not among the studychr('39')s objectives and were not reported.

Considering that the most severe problem of autistic children as a social impairment that impact of a cognitive rehabilitation intervention program on improving social functions of children with an autism spectrum disorder, the use of cognitive rehabilitation intervention program is suggested as an educational and rehabilitation package in all special centers for autistic children and other children with neurodevelopmental disorders as a training and rehabilitation program. It is also suggested that specialized and trained people should implement this rehabilitation package.

University is a challenging environment provoking different reactions in students. Inadequate emotional responses in the face of stress (resulting from entering a new environment such as a university), such as feelings of sadness and inadequate emotion management strategies, cause short-term emotional distress among students. Emotion regulation refers to the processes by which we influence what emotions we experience, when we experience them, and how we express them. On the other hand, the lack of emotional, psychological, and social skills and abilities makes students vulnerable in the face of problems and exposes them to various psychological, social, and behavioral disorders. Under these circumstances, people with high psychological capital can more easily cope with these pressures. Psychological capital is a personchr('39')s ability to face the expectations and difficulties of everyday life. On the other hand, financial and educational problems, future career prospects, emotional attachments, beliefs, and mental challenges are some of the problemchr('39')s students face and seek coping strategies to solve.  Coping strategies are a set of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral efforts used to change, interpret, and correct stressful situations to alleviate suffering. Among the new psychological therapies, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is one of the new therapies that plays an essential role in individuals’ psychological well-being and integrating acceptance, commitment, and mind interventions. Awareness helps patients to achieve a lively, purposeful and meaningful life. Therefore, according to the above, the purpose of this study was to study the effectiveness of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment to emotion regulation, psychological capital, and studentschr('39') coping strategies.

The present study was quasi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design and a follow-up period with a control group. The study’s statistical population included all female students of Amol universities studying in the academic year 1397-98. Among these students, 50 were selected as a sample using the available method, then randomly assigned to two groups of 25 experimental and control. The study’s inclusion criteria were 1) during the intervention period, not undergo simultaneous treatment and training or other medication; 2) no acute psycho-personality disorder; 3) interest in participating in research and intervention sessions 4); and no family or professional barriers. Exclusion criteria also included 1) unwillingness to continue cooperation, absence of more than two sessions, and participation in parallel sessions. The acceptance and commitment therapy group were held once a week, 90-minutes12 sessions for the experimental group, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Ethical considerations were observed for subjects who received information about the research could leave the study at any time. They were assured that all information would remain confidential and would only be used for research purposes. For privacy reasons, the subjectschr('39') details were not recorded. In the end, all of them received informed consent. Short-form emotion regulation questionnaire (Garnefski and Kraaij, 2006), psychological capital questionnaire (Luthans et al., 2007), and coping strategies questionnaire (Folkman and Lazarus, 1988) were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results revealed that the intervention based on acceptance and commitment effectively regulated emotion, psychological capital, and studentschr('39') coping strategies (P<0.0001), and this effectiveness in the follow-up phase also affected all three variables. Remained (P<0.0001). It can be said that the intervention based on acceptance and commitment led to the improvement of emotion regulation, psychological capital, and coping strategies in students.

Considering the significant effect of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment on emotion regulation, psychological capital, and students’ coping strategies, using these appropriate methods is recommended to all counselors and practitioners of psychological therapy and officials.  One of the critical limitations of the present study is the use of self-report questionnaires, so to ensure more results, it is recommended to use other tools such as interviews and psychological tests along with the questionnaire to add to the richness of the findings.

Lamarck’s idea of the ability to transfer memories acquired in the face of various environmental conditions through non-educational and non-genetic mechanisms to children has been extensively considered. Previous studies have shown that parents’ environmental experiences, such as exposure to environmental toxins, educational behaviors, stress, and fear, may affect several generations’ phenotypes. The inheritance of epigenetic patterns, including DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA, to living organisms, allows the information related to the ancestral environment to be passed on to their offspring. Presently, the acquired traits related to learning and memory capabilities are among the essential issues in the field of epigenetic transmission. Considering that methylation DNA, histone methylation, and histone acetylation are three major epigenetic processes involved in the regulation of memory, which leads to modification of epigenetic patterns, and given the possibility of transmitting epigenetic symptoms from parents to offspring, it is anticipated that the phenotypes created in the learning process and memory formation in parents will be passed on to their children. It facilitates the learning process and memory formation of the offspring. Therefore, this study aimed at specifically analyzing whether Paternal learning of a spatial task before fertilization can impact the process of spatial learning in the male offspring.

In the present study, Wistar adult male rats (8 weeks old) were used at the beginning of the study. The first eight male rats were randomly divided into the two groups: spatial memory training group (n=4) and control group (n=4). The rats participated in the spatial memory training group in the Morris water maze Protocol, and the control group did not participate in any training. After the end of the training session, male rats of both groups mated with female rats that had not experienced any training. After the end of mating, pregnancy, birth, and lactation, four male offspring from each mother were randomly selected in each group, and in the two groups, paternal train (n=16), and paternal no-train (n=16) they were practicing Morris water maze within five days.

Escape latency: A two-way ANOVA with repeated measures (2×12) (Group × Trial) showed that the main effect of trials (F11, 330=19.63, P≤0.001), the main effect of group (F11, 30=11.77, P≤0.01), and interactive effect of trials and group (F111, 330=1.98, P≤0.032) is significant. The post-hoc test results revealed that in trial five, there was a significant difference between the time to find the platform in the paternal train and paternal no-train groups, and male offspring of the paternal train group had better performance than others. Swimming speed: A two-way ANOVA with repeated measures (2×12) (Group×Trial) showed significant main effects of Trial (F(11, 330)=7.48, P<0.01) and Group (F(1, 30)=4.52, P<0.05), while the interaction Group×Trial (F(11, 330)= 0.69, P=0.74) was not significant. The results showed that the swimming speed in the male offspring of trained fathers was higher than in the female offspring of not-trained fathers. Total distance swum: A two-way ANOVA with repeated measures (2×12) (Group×Trial) showed significant main effects of Trial (F(11, 330)=10.20, P<0.001) and Group (F(1, 30)=7.14, P<0.05), while the interaction Group×Trial (F(11, 330)=0.72, P=0.71) was not significant. These data indicate that the male offspring of trained fathers’ total distance swum was significantly shorter than that of male offspring of not-trained fathers. Probe phase: Twenty-four hours afterward, the animals were submitted to the spatial probe test, and the time spent in the target quadrant was calculated. Student’s t-test showed a significant difference between groups (t=2.99, df=30, P<0.01). The results showed the longer time spent in the target quadrant displayed by the male offspring of trained fathers compared to the male offspring of not-trained fathers.

These findings indicate that paternal spatial training before fertilization improves the male offspring’s spatial learning and memory consolidation process and motivation.

The phenomenon of aging, according to the definition of the World Health Organization, refers to the age of 60, which is the result of the natural course of time, and leads to physiological, psychological and social changes in the elderly understanding the problems of aging is a challenge to any community. Cognitive disorders are among the most common problems in old age and have an extensive range of problems. Studies show that about 5% of people 65 and older have a severe cognitive impairment. Flexibility requires the ability to communicate with the present and differentiate oneself from thoughts and experiences within the psyche. Cognitive flexibility is considered an individualchr('39')s ability to making equilibrium between psychological and well-being factors in hazardous conditions and decreases with aging. Therefore, the exercises that improve the ability of cognitive flexibility are essential. Brain exercises develop neural pathways in the brain through movement. This method can improve cognitive, psychological, and motor functions, including cognitive flexibility, self-confidence, self-esteem, coordination, and concentration. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of brain gym exercises on the cognitive flexibility of the male elderly.

The present study method was semi-experimental with a pre-posttest design and a control group. To this end, 30 elder men were selected by the convenience sample method and randomly divided into two experimental (average mean: 85.7±4.41 years old) and control (average mean: 80.77±3.24 years old) groups. In the course of eight weeks, the experimental group conducted two sessions and each 30-minute session to perform the brain gym exercises. Inclusion criteria for performing the present protocol were: the age of 61 and older, no Alzheimerchr('39')s (cognitive decline), the capacity to follow the set of instructions, ability to exercise, had no severe mobility problems, participated voluntarily in the study, and completed a consent form. Exclusion criteria included: not having enough motivation, not doing the movements correctly, and not attending training sessions regularly. The Wisconsin Card Storing Test was used to evaluate the flexibility of the participants. All the principles of ethics in research have been observed in this research. Participants were aware of   the research’s purpose and were assured of the principle of information confidentiality. In addition, their informed written consent was obtained, and they could refuse to participate in the study if they wished. All stages of the present study were performed under the ethics principles in the research of the Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz with the code of ethics EE/99.3.02.5277/scu.ac.ir

Data were analyzed by a one-way ANCOVA test at a significant level P≤0.05. The covariance analysis results revealed there was a significant difference between the performances of the two groups at post-test (P≤0.01) that favored the experimental group.

The present study results showed that a period of brain exercise training increases the cognitive flexibility of the elderly. According to obtained findings, performing long-term brain gym exercises can be an effective intervention to improve cognitive functions in elderly with cognitive flexibility disorder.

The ability to see for people who have visual impairment is not always completely deteriorated. Indeed, enhancing the remaining vision boosts the quality of their life meanwhile they become more independent. In recent years, the application of visual augmentation tools has been considered by many researchers working on methods to increase the visual acuity status. However, the available smart glasses are low in diversity and are relatively difficult to access due to their high price. The objective of many scientific projects is to replace expensive smart glasses with more cost-effective tools. In this regard, we have designed experiments to evaluate   virtual reality headsets and smartphones’ effectiveness to enhance remaining vision.

In this case, a virtual reality headset is used as glasses, and a smartphone functions as the display, as well as the processor.  Proprietary graphics software is developed by applying Unity libraries under the Android operating system to design the experiments. Three experiments were designed regarding the importance of the object and motion detection in   partially sighted people’s independent mobility. The mentioned experiments   recognized the number of objects, including five cylindrical columns, distinguishing the type of objects, including a circle and a square, and sensing the motion of objects, including a moving square. The key point in designing the experiments is that simple shapes and black and white images are used. Individuals’ responses are recorded quantitatively 1, 0.5, and 0, representing totally correct, semi-correct, and totally wrong responses, respectively. In addition, a questionnaire is designed based on light and motion perception, as well as Daily Living Tasks Dependent on Vision (DLTV). The questionnaire is not only used to evaluate the quality of the remaining vision but also to identify the problems and needs concerning visually impaired people. There were four women and five men varied in age ranging from 34 to 79 participating in the   study voluntarily. All the interviews were conducted face to face and unstructured. The participants were convenience samples of the Blind Society of Dezful city located in Khuzestan province. It is worth mentioning that all participants willingly consented to take part in experiments and interviews. Moreover, the names of the participants are not disclosed in public.

The results revealed that 72%, 78%, and 83% of the participants successfully recognized the number, type, and motion of objects, respectively. In general, participants discovered light and motion in 89% of all experiments. The interview findings revealed the extent of the visually impaired people’s ability to carry out daily living tasks and identify their primary and fundamental problems.

Despite the low remaining vision, the majority of individuals participating in this study had a minimal perception of light and motion. Findings showed that simplifying objects and displaying white objects in a black background significantly impacted  increasing visual capabilities and enhancing the vision of visually impaired people. Finally, due to the availability and low cost of virtual reality headsets and smartphones, this study’s findings draw a clear perspective on the rehabilitation of partially sighted people.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a developmental neurological disorder associated with decreased attention symptoms, increased impulsivity and hyperactivity. Working memory and sustained attention are the essential aspects of executive functions. Working memory is an abstract structure that refers to the primary mechanism or system for storing and processing information related to tasks while performing a cognitive task. Sustained attention refers to maintaining attention during continuous activity. Sustained attention helps individuals to control the interference of stimuli and respond only to the appropriate stimulus. Exercise has been suggested as a safe and low-cost Conventional therapy for children with ADHD. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of executive function training based on motor activity on working memory and sustained attention of children with ADHD.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design. The Ethics Committee of the Islamic Azad University of Kermanshah approved the present studychr('39')s proposal at the time of approval. Besides, all participants participated in this study with full consent, and written consent was obtained from their parents in this regard. In addition, participants were assured that their information would remain confidential. The present study’s statistical population included all children aged 9 to 12 years with ADHD in Kermanshah city. Participants in this study were 20 children selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned into two control and experimental groups. The experimental group participants participated in a physical activity protocol held in the gym for 12 weeks and twice a week for 70 minutes. The research instruments were the Wechsler intelligence quotient test for children, Connors Parent Questionnaire, working memory, and continuous performance test. Prior to implementing the training protocol, all participants’ sustained attention and working memory scores were recorded as a pre-test with N-back and a continuous performance test. At the end of the training protocol, all subjects’ working memory and sustained attention scores were recorded as post-test. Shapiro-Wilk test was used to check the datachr('39')s normality, and the Levin test was used to check the homogeneity of variances. Finally, an analysis of covariance in SPSS-23 software was used to test the research hypothesis. The significance was considered 0.05 at all stages.

The results revealed that after 12 weeks of executive function training based on motor activity, there was a significant difference in working memory and sustained attention scores in the post-test of two groups (P≤0.001). According to ETA squares, 92% of the changes in working memory and 89% of the sustained attention changes were due to the effect of exercises.

According to the results of this study, it can be said that since executive function training based on motor activity has a positive and significant effect on working memory and sustained attention in children with ADHD, it is a suitable intervention method to treat these children.

The high importance of preschool in activating childrenchr('39')s cognitive capacities, executive functions and social-emotional skills is evident to researchers in this area. Regarding this matter, the present study, to obtain an overview of the existing studies in this area, aimed to conduct a systematic review of the existing intervention programs to improve preschools’ the level of executive functions and social-emotional skills.

In this systematic review, English-language research in the fields of the effectiveness of educational programs to enhance executive functions, and social-emotionalskills in preschool children indexed in the Google Scholar, Springer, and ScienceDirect databases from 1990 to 2019, have been searched using the following keywords: "Executive functions in preschoolers", "Executive functions training programs in preschoolers", "Social-emotional competence in preschoolers", "Social-emotional skills in preschoolers", "Executive functions and academic achievement or performance in preschoolers", "The effectiveness of Social-emotional training programs on preschoolers", and "The effectiveness of cognitive training programs on preschoolers". In addition, Persian-language studies that have been uploaded in Magiran, Noormags, and Scientific Information Database (SID) from 2001 to 2019 have been searched using the following keywords: "Social-emotionalSkills", "Functions" "Executive", "Academic Achievement", "Academic Performance", "Academic Success", "Preschool Children" and "Children 4 to 6 years old".In total, more than 200 studies in this field were reviewed and evaluated, and 66 articles were selected. After the initial selection, credible studies in which educational interventions were conducted only to improve executive functions and social-emotionalskills in preschool children and solve their behavioral problems were selected. Among these, studies in which the educational program’s purpose was to improve the level of childrenchr('39')s academic performance were excluded from the study. Then, from the selected articles, information was collected, classified, and summarized in three areas of executive function training, social-emotionalskills training, and simultaneous training of these two to preschool children. Due to systematic review method, no ethical issues were faced during this study’s conduction.

The results of current research revealed that most of the studies were conducted to improve students’ executive functions and social-emotional skills. Moreover, despite the effectiveness of various curricula in improving preschoolers’ cognitive, social-emotional and academic skills, a comprehensive curriculum in which executive functions and social-emotional skills are being trained together does not exist.

It is suggested that developers of educational programs for preschool children pay attention to more areas of childrenchr('39')s development based on the present study’s findings. Namely, they should try to teach executive functions and social-emotionalskills to children in a combined way. Also, educational programs should include programs for training teachers and school staff to implement their school and classroom programs better. Moreover, classroom management techniques and improving the teacher-student relationship, as well as attracting parental involvement, and training parents to improve parent-child relationships are essential. To this end, it is suggested that programs for teaching executive functions and social-emotionalskills to preschool children should be developed and implemented at three levels of education for parents, teachers, and children. Future studies in this field and focusing on implementing the program on children with low cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills, should also consider improving the level of these skills in normal children. In addition, educational programs can lead to better learning and the consolidation of skills in children if they are designed to be implemented for at least one academic year. Finally, it is suggested that domestic developers of programs and be more transparent in reporting on the implementation method and details of their programs so that these interventions can be more accurately evaluated and compared with foreign programs.

The current article is the first attempt to introduce and analyze synesthesia in Persian thoroughly. Synesthesia is a sensory and neurological phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sense results in the stimulation of another or more other senses. This sensory phenomenon leaves traces in language as well. For instance, the following sentences are considered as linguistic synesthesia:Space was filled with a sharp odor (smell → touch)He took a cold look at me and left (vision → touch)Ullmann (1964) proposed a hierarchy of sense transfers in linguistic synesthesia. Sense transfer refers to what senses, as the primary senses, describe the other senses as the differentiated senses. According to Ullmann’s hierarchy of sense transfer in English, tactile and vision are situated at the two ends of this hierarchy in which tactile is the most basic sense and vision is the most differentiated sense. The following figure shows the sense transfer pattern in English:Touch → Taste → Smell → Vision → HearingThe current research employs Ullmannchr('39')s notion as its theoretical framework. It seeks to find answers to these questions: What is the overall hierarchy of sense transfers in Persian’s balanced corpus? What are the most frequent source and target domains in Persian synesthetic metaphors? Comparing findings in Persian with findings in other languages, and how synesthetic classification can result in a cognitive typology in languages?This research has used obtained findings in similar research in languages other than Persian, such as English, French, Hungarian, Hebrew, Korean, Chinese, and German, to determine the universal principles governing the pattern of sense transfers in languages.

To answer the questions, the researchers searched the Persian Linguistic Database (PLDB) using some keywords related to the five senses to extract the most frequent source and target domains and determine whether Persian synesthetic metaphors follow Ullmann’s hierarchy of sense transfer or not. During this study, no experiments were performed on humans or animals. The research method is based on the ethical codes of the International Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE).

The corpus-based data revealed that the most frequent source domains for synesthetic metaphors in Persian were touch and taste, and the most frequent target domains were hearing, smell, and vision, respectively. In other words, senses of hearing, smell, and vision are mostly described by touch and taste in Persian. This figure can show the overall hierarchy of sense transfers in Persian: Touch → Taste → Vision → Smell → Hearing 

 According to the corpus data, the overall hierarchy of sense transfers in Persian is not entirely in line with Ullmann (1964) in that smell precedes vision. However, it conforms to a universal principle in that contact senses are used to describe distance senses. Touch and taste are considered contact senses, and smell, vision and hearing are considered distance senses. Hence, the Persian data do not contradict Ullmanchr('39')s hierarchy in this regard since smell and vision are considered distance senses. This overall principle also governs the sense transfer hierarchy in the other mentioned languages. The studied languages (English, French, Hungarian, Hebrew, Korean, Chinese, and German) use the contact senses, namely touch and taste, to describe and express the distance senses, namely sight, smell, and hearing. However, their parametric choice is which contact senses are used to describe the other senses more pervasively and which distance senses have been exposed to conceptualization more extensively.These findings can be explained in light of the embodiment theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999). Accordingly, the contact senses whose domain of the function is connected and close to the body were the most frequent source domains. This is in line with what Sweetzer (1990) argues about the orientation of conceptual mappings, which originate from the body to different conceptual domains.  This study’s result is significant because it allows for a cognitive typology of Persian compared to other languages under study.

Although spatial reasoning as a form of cognition is one of the mental factors influencing the creative response of architecture, there are many unresolved educational and cognitive problems regarding its place in architectural design and its stages. Therefore, the present study aimed to explain the position of spatial reasoning in the process of architectural design and its stages.

The method of this research was qualitative, and due to the nature of model explanation and case study, had two main steps. The first step was performed by a descriptive-analytical method using content analysis in two fields of cognitive sciences and architecture. In this step, the effects and interrelationships between theories that explain the mental process in creative thinking and their relationship with the architectural design process were investigated. The current study was conducted to explain the role of spatial reasoning in architectural design. The second step included a qualitative case study of senior architecture studentschr('39') experience about their design experience and a descriptive analysis of questionnaire data. In this regard, 30 master students in the architectural design atelier, in the process of architectural design during one semester, answered the questionnaire. The questionnaire included 10- checklist items based on architectural abilities related to spatial abilities. Students answered the questionnaire with the control of professors in each stage of the architectural design process and according to how the work progressed.

Based on the analytical findings of the first step, the development of spatial reasoning through the development of working memory indirectly plays a role in improving the architectural design process and improving skills such as spatial visualization, reconstruct images, and spatial orientation that require many capabilities. They are the foundation in architecture, directly improving the process of architectural design. The second step’s findings indicated that the necessary capabilities related to spatial reasoning are used in all stages of architectural design, especially in the illumination stage. The visualization ability, which is related to the component of image reconstruction, was most commonly used in the design process, which was in the incubation stage. The imagination of embodied space from different angles, which is related to the mental rotation component, was the second most used in the architectural design process. Moreover, the ability of visualization and 3D-2D conversions were used in all stages. In general, the second step’s results in this research confirmed the first stepchr('39')s analytical findings.

The model, which is explained from the role of spatial reasoning in information processing and its impact on the stages of the creative process of architectural design, indicates that spatial reasoning is a fundamental factor for improving the process of architectural design. The case study results also show that spatial reasoning plays a role in all stages of architectural design. However, its effect on all architectural design stages was not the same, and the amount of interest was different according to the capabilities used in each stage.