|
|
Manipulation of physical environment and cognition in primates: Ontogenetic development
Kolářová, Anna ; Nekovářová, Tereza (advisor) ; Hradec, Michal (referee)
Cognition is a crucial factor for primates as it allows properly perceive and respond to the surrounding environment. This thesis is devoted to cognitive phenomena, which are often associated with understanding the physical environment and object manipulation. Much attention is focused on causal reasoning, object permanence and tool using. Particular emphasis is placed on the ontogenesis of these cognitive abilities. One of the main questions is how development differs between humans and non-human primates. Despite the fact that non- human primates, just like humans, have a very complex knowledge of the laws of the physical environment, causal reasoning and object permanence develops in a very similar way for these related species, but far from the same way. A large disparity is observed mainly in the area of the pace of development. Tool use in humans and non-human primates is strongly influenced by social learning and traditions. Key words: primates, physical environment, cognitive abilities, causal reasoning, object permanence, object manipulation, tool using, ontogeny
|
|
|
Pre-school abilities: European comparative study
Neufussová, Monika ; Münich, Daniel (advisor) ; Federičová, Miroslava (referee)
Pre-school education improves cognitive and non-cognitive skills of children, and the positive effects persist to adulthood. The literature provides rich ev- idence of beneficial effects of pre-school, some of them even causal. However, most studies come from the US, and the research lacks a comprehensive pic- ture of European countries concerning pre-school education. I contribute to the research by providing a comparison of European countries regarding pre- school attendance, pre-school skills, and test scores in fourth grade. In Section ??, I focus on the Czech Republic. The results show that more educated moth- ers are more likely to send children to pre-school. In most countries, children with stronger pre-school skills achieve higher results on standardized tests in fourth grade, which supports the idea of the existence of the Matthew effect. In the Czech Republic, pre-school attendance may increase fourth-grade test scores by 0.3 SD. The most important pre-school skill is the ability to read, which is associated with an increase in fourth-grade math achievement of 0.2 SD. The results contribute to the literature on pre-school education in Eu- rope; however, they should not be interpreted causally, as they are essentially a description of the pre-school context in Europe. 1
|
|
|
The effect of incubation temperature on cognition and brain cellular composition in geckos Paroedura picta
Polonyiová, Alexandra ; Němec, Pavel (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee)
The effect of incubation temperature on different morphological, physiological, cognitive and behavioral characteristics in reptiles is a well-studied topic, although the underlying mechanism leading to the differences between individuals incubated at different temperatures remains largely unknown. In this thesis I studied the effect of incubation temperature on cognitive abilities and the number of neurons and non-neuronal cells in the gecko Paroedura picta incubated at two different temperatures, 24řC and 30řC. The geckos were tested in two cognitive tasks with simulated predatory attack. 14-day-old hatchlings were tested in a Y-maze, while 6-months-old geckos were tested in an arena with shelters of different colors. After testing, the number of neurons and non- neuronal cells in several parts of the brain were estimated using the isotropic fractionator in selected individuals. Although incubation temperature did not affect the success in the cognitive task in hatchlings, it did affect the total time needed to find the shelter. This difference remained significant also in adult geckos. The number of neurons, which was used as a proxy for the information processing capacity of the brain, did not affect success in the cognitive tasks. However, absolute brain size correlated with success in the...
|
|
|
Cognitive abilities in reptiles and relevant research methodology
Polonyiová, Alexandra ; Němec, Pavel (advisor) ; Landová, Eva (referee)
Reptiles are a neglected group in the study of cognitive abilities of Amniota. Due to their phylogenetic relationship with birds and mammals, knowledge about reptile brains and cognition is important to understanding their evolution in other amniote groups. In this thesis, I summarized the literature on cognitive abilities in reptiles, which focuses on spatial orientation, such as orientation based on visual cues or compass navigation, associative learning, mainly visual discrimination and operant conditioning, and social learning. It has been shown that some reptilian species are capable of flexible behaviour and, given the right methodology, can successfully solve a number of cognitive tasks. I also briefly treated the size and structure of reptile brains, providing the neural substrate for these abilities. Keywords: reptile, cognitive abilities, brain size, brain structure, spatial orientation, associative learning, social learning
|
|
|
Testing of Recognizing Spatial Intelligence
Malý, Tomáš ; Škutková, Helena (referee) ; Sekora, Jiří (advisor)
This thesis deals with measurement issues in psychology, specifically online diagnostics of spatial abilities. It gives a brief look on psychological construct of intelligence and methods of measuring it, currently in the context of the most spread theory of intelligence C-H-C (Cattell- Horn-Carroll). This thesis focuses on ability called „Visualization“, that is understood as the ability to process visual perceptions and manipulate them in our imagination. The thesis includes functional software, which is made for online computer testing of spatial abilities in children of preschool, or school age.
|
|
|
Development of cognitive abilities in the Czech Republic based on data of SHARE
Sirotková, Lucie ; Malá, Ivana (advisor) ; Sobíšek, Lukáš (referee)
This master thesis deals with the description and analysis of the cognitive abilities of persons over 50 years of age in the Czech Republic. The aim of this work is to present the readers the panel data and their use in the analysis of cognitive abilities. For the purpose of the analysis, data from Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) are used. In the theoretical part, panel data, cognitive abilities and SHARE survey are generally described. The practical part is divided into four parts. The first one deals with descriptive analysis of individual blocks from the cognitive function module published in the SHARE. Characteristics: age, gender, education and the number of activities are then described, whose impact on cognitive abilities is tested. The third part focuses on the construction of an index of cognitive abilities. The main part of the thesis is focused on the use of panel data analysis for the modeling of dependence between the index of cognitive abilities and other characteristics. In total, three different models are compiled, which are subsequently compared to each other and tested on new data. The results show that age has a great impact on cognitive abilities. Furthermore, there is a proven impact of education and the number of activities carried out. The influence of gender is only significant in two of the three models.
|
|
|
Participation of the speech therapist on comprehensive care of people with the syndrome of dementia
Zábranská, Nicola ; Klenková, Jiřina (advisor) ; Mužáková, Monika (referee)
The dissertation deals with issues of the dementia syndrome and the speech therapy as a part of its therapy. It describes basic types of dementia, risk factors affecting its formation, diagnostics including the most famous diagnostic tests, the general treatment of dementia, and institutions, where the care for people with dementia could be realized. Subsequently it namely focuses on the speech intervention for this group of people. As a part of this dissertation a workbook with the plan for the treatment of impaired communication abilities in dementia was created. Tests were carried out with four individuals with dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease. The results, even evaluated just subjectively, show that this plan might be appropriate as a cornerstone of speech intervention for people with dementia, which in our country is not very broadly spread in our country. Keywords: dementia, cognitive abilities, speech therapy, Alzheimer's disease, communication, homes with special regime
|
|
|
Cognitive and aggressive behaviours in the annual killifish, Nothobranchius orthonotus
Kubická, Lucie ; Reichard, Martin (advisor) ; Horký, Pavel (referee)
I used annual killifish Nothobranchius orthonotus to investigate two separate questions related to behavioural aspects of their life history. The first study focused on spatial cognitive ability of two N. orthonotus populations that originated from temporary pools that varied in their expected duration due to differences in annual precipitation patterns (dry and humid region). Test of cognition was based on the ability to learn to find food in a dichotomous test. It was assumed that learning ability differs between populations when tested in young and old age along with their difference in captive lifespan. Additionally, association between cognitive ability and other life history traits was tested. It was found that: (1) there was no difference in the ability to learn spatial task between populations; (2) both populations had similar lifespan with no cognitive decay in older age, and older fish from dry region population had committed even less errors in the learning task than they did as young fish; (3) fish were able to effectively learn the task but (4) solitary fish had lower learning ability than group-reared fish; (5) longer- living fish were quicker learners; (6) high resting metabolic rate was associated with more effective learning; (7) hesitant fish found the food reward in learning task...
|
|
|
Effects of early-life stress on development of cognitive abilities
Lukavská, Markéta ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Svoboda, Jan (referee)
Stress is a major factor affecting both current and long-term performance of the organism to certain situations. Stress can hormonally influence some neuronal axis, particularly frontal lobe, hippocampus and amygdale, through the activation of HPA axis and its feedback. Changes in these regions of the brain during postnatal ontogeny can significantly affect individual behaviour and cognition. The mentioned effect of stress on cognitive functions is influenced, in particular, by the timing of the impact of stress due to postnatal ontogeny of the above mentioned regions of the brain. In addition to this timing is necessary to take into account a whole range of other factors such as predictability and the level of control above stress situations. A summary of all of these factors affects the specific impact on cognition of the individual will be a stressor. An acute or a long-term mild stress (i. e. sensory stimulation) increases the individual's cognitive abilities. On the contrary, too strong, non-predictable or uncontrollable stress has a negative effect on cognitive performance. Unfortunately, it is not easy to determine a reliable marker of the stress situation. In the postnatal period in mammals, we meet with the so-called hypo-responsive period which is characterized by stress resistance and...
|
|
|
Influence of the natural environment on the development of motor and cognitive abilities of preschool age.
Havířová, Martina ; Opravilová, Eva (advisor) ; Havlová, Jana (referee)
This work deals with the effect the natural environment on the development of motor and cognitive abilities of preschool age. The aim is to determine the effect of education in the natural environment to the level of motor skills and knowledge of preschool children. The theoretical part describes the characteristics of preschool age. Acquaints with the development of motor skills and their training in the natural environment. It also deals with the cognitive component of the preschool child's personality and the possibilities of its development in the countryside. Zooms problems of education in a forest environment, types of learnin and methods of training in the various components of the child's personality just in a forest. The practical part is a qualitative research method used is a questionnaire survey among kindergarten teachers to determine the most commonly used educational environment, the method standardized test for 4-6-year old children to determine the level of motor skills of the children, and the method of diagnostic interview, which examined the effect of natural environments on children's knowledge. Results in agreement with reported literature confirm the positive influence of education in the natural environment for the development of several components of the child's personality.
|
guest ::
