Age-related changes in creative thinking during late childhood: The contribution of cooperative learning

Creative thinking has been considered a human skill that is necessary for facing challenging situations that require adaptive solutions. From an educational perspective, creative thinking plays an important role in learning processes and is an issue of central importance within classroom methodology. In this regard, Cooperative learning (CL) has been studied as a methodology that enhances creative processes. CL methodology refers to teaching procedures based on organizing the class into small mixed-abilities groups where students work cooperatively to complete academic tasks and consolidate their learning. However, the impact of CL on creative thinking seems to have been insufficiently explored in late childhood, which is known as a transitory stage between childhood and adolescence. Using two tests (at 5th and 6th grades of Primary School), we examined the trajectory of creative thinking in fifty-three students from two different schools. Students were assessed by a divergent thinking task (CREA Test; Corbalán et al., 2015) at two time points: Test-1 (T1), with a mean age of 9.81 years (Sd= 0.48), and Test-2 (T2), with a mean age of 11.35 years (Sd= 0.52). Given the differences in methodology delivered in each school (Cooperative and individualistic learning), we also analyzed the effects of this variable on student creative thinking performance. We found significant improvements between testing in the two schools, although CL appeared to have a more positive effect than IL on creative thinking performance. Our finding highlights the importance of studying classroom methodology as a mediating factor in creative thinking development, which could be important in the learning processes as well as the integral development of the child

Development of executive functions in late childhood and the mediating role of cooperative learning: A longitudinal study

We examine the developmental changes in Executive functions (EFs) throughout late childhood and how the contextual factor of classroom methodology mediates such changes. Using data collected from fifty-three pupils at two time points (between the 5th and 6th grades of Primary School) we observed the longitudinal development of cool (Working Memory (WM), Cognitive Flexibility, Inhibitory Control, and Planning) and hot-EFs (Emotional Intelligence-EI-). The participants were selected from two schools with different methodological approaches (Cooperative and Individualistic learning) to examine the mediating role of classroom methodologies in developmental changes in EFs. The results revealed age-related improvements in performance on WM, cognitive flexibility, and planning tasks. Moreover, Cooperative Learning (CL) significantly affected performance on WM and self-control tasks. Our findings highlight the importance of studying the development of EFs at the end of the Primary School stage, since natural development involves numerous contextual factors that deserve attention, particularly for improving methodological proposals and learning processes

Negative Symptoms and Behavioral Alterations Associated with Dorsolateral Prefrontal Syndrome in Patients with Schizophrenia

The present study had three main aims: (1) to explore the possible relationships between the two dimensions of negative symptoms (NS) with the three frontal behavioral syndromes (dorsolateral, orbitofrontal and the anterior or mesial cingulate circuit) in patients with schizophrenia; (2) to determine the influence of sociodemographic and clinical variables on the severity of the two dimensions of NS (expressive deficits and disordered relationships/avolition); and (3) to explore the possible relationships between the two dimensions of NS and social functioning. We evaluated a group of 33 patients with schizophrenia with a predominance of NS using the self-reported version of the Frontal System Behavior scale. To quantify the severity of NS, the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) scale was used. The results revealed that the two dimensions of NS correlate positively with the behavioral syndrome of dorsolateral prefrontal origin. Regarding the influence of sociodemographic and clinical variables, in patients with a long evolution the NS of the expressive deficits dimension were less severe than in patients with a short evolution. A negative correlation was found between the severity of NS of the disordered relationships/avolition dimension and perceived social functioning. Our results show the importance of differentiating between the two dimensions of NS to characterize better their possible frontal etiology and impact on clinical course and social functioning

Safety and preliminary efficacy on cognitive performance and adaptive functionality of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in children with Down syndrome. A randomized phase Ib clinical trial (PERSEUS study)

Purpose: Although some caregivers are using epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) off label in hopes of improving cognition in young adults with Down syndrome (DS), nothing is known about its safety, tolerability, and efficacy in the DS pediatric population. We aimed to evaluate safety and tolerability of a dietary supplement containing EGCG and if EGCG improves cognitive and functional performance. Methods: A total of 73 children with DS (aged 6-12 years) were randomized. Participants received 0.5% EGCG (10 mg/kg daily dose) or placebo for 6 months with 3 months follow up after treatment discontinuation. Results: In total, 72 children were treated and 66 completed the study. A total of 38 participants were included in the EGCG group and 35 in the placebo group. Of 72 treated participants, 62 (86%) had 229 treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs). Of 37 participants in the EGCG group, 13 (35%) had 18 drug-related treatment-emergent AEs and 12 of 35 (34%) from the placebo group had 22 events. In the EGCG group, neither severe AEs nor increase in the incidence of AEs related to safety biomarkers were observed. Cognition and functionality were not improved compared with placebo. Secondary efficacy outcomes in girls point to a need for future work. Conclusion: The use of EGCG is safe and well-tolerated in children with DS, but efficacy results do not support its use in this population. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016