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Cognitive narratology has been recognised as one of the most important ways of understanding human nature as expressed in the stories and narrations. In the present preliminary study, we aimed to use Turner and Fauconnier’s concepts of mental spaces and conceptual blending to explain the peculiarities of three stories belonging to three different cultural and geo-climate regions in Iran. In the present study, after collecting data from a set of texts, which included written, oral or visual, the content analysis method was used. We found some similarities among the mental spaces of different geographic regions in these three stories. They are, however, not solely influenced by environmental and cultural factors. The paper recommends that studies and investigations similar to the present one can be considered a basic but crucial step in demonstrating the extent to which a person's cognition and cognitive processing in general and the creation of meaning in particular are a continuation and representation of embodied experiences. Keywords: Cognitive, conceptual blending, geo-environmental, narratology, storytelling

In this study, we examined the relationship between conceptual metaphor and recalling. For this purpose, 3 metaphorical and 3 equivalent non-metaphorical short texts were produced in 2 visual and auditory versions, and 47 participants were exposed to the short-term and long-term recalling immediately after reading/listening to the texts and one week later. Results indicated that in some cases, it is a metaphorical one that has been recalled better than its non-metaphorical equivalent in both short-term memory and long-term memory. This finding can be interpreted as evidence of the possible facilitative role of conceptual metaphors in memorization.

The modality of apprehension and processing of metaphorical expressions in comparison with non-metaphorical ones has hitherto captivated numerous researchers in manifold fields of study, such as linguistics, psychology, and cognitive sciences. More specially, metaphors used in a one-sentence paragraph have been the subjects of many studies. However, cognitive functions of structural metaphors haven’t been entirely noteworthy in contrast with non-metaphorical expressions employed in textual context. In this study, the interrelationship between memory and conceptual metaphor in significant cognitive processes has been examined in a textual context. In this respect, the hypothesis, that conceptual metaphor as a value can assist with the recognition and recollection process and incorporate the quintessence of our cerebrations, has been put to test. To evaluate this assumption, the reaction time task is used. Each testable case has been subjected to analysis within two analogous contexts, in a metaphorical and non-metaphorical manner. Afterwards, terms were displayed, and the subjects needed to determine as swiftly as possible whether these vocabularies were exemplified or not. The results indicated that the terms pertaining to the schema and other terms included in metaphorical context would be processed faster than the one with non-metaphorical context. With regard to the obtained data, it seems that the conceptual metaphor generates semantic networks in the mind which will be more accessible to memory upon information retrieval.

Stories mirror the essential function of human cognitive activity. In the present preliminary study, we hypothesized that the mental spaces that make up the stories can be influenced by the environmental conditions of their creators. For this purpose, three stories from three different climatic zones in Iran were selected and a content analysis method was used to analyze their components. Results showed significant differences between the mental spaces of different geographic regions in these three stories. This finding could be considered as a step taken to show the extent to which an individual’s cognition and cognitive processing in general and the creation of meaning in particular, is an extension and representation of embodied experience. We have discussed the subject in the framework of narrative analysis as well as cognitive semantics.

Endomyocardial fi brosis is a rare cause of restrictive cardiomyopathy which predominates in lowincome population living in tropical areas. It´s characterized by endomyocardial fi brous tissue deposition causing restrictive physiology with poor prognosis without proper management.

Advances in the study of brain networks can be applied to our understanding of anxiety disorders (eg, generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and posttraumatic stress disorders) to enable us to create targeted treatments. These disorders have in common an inability to control thoughts, emotions, and behaviors related to a perceived threat. Here we review animal and human imaging studies that have revealed separate brain networks related to various negative emotions. Research has supported the idea that brain networks of attention serve to control emotion networks as well as the thoughts and behaviors related to them. We discuss how attention networks can modulate both positive and negative affect. Disorders arise from both abnormal activation of negative affect and a lack of attentional control. Training attention has been one way to foster improved attentional control. We review attention training studies as well as efforts to generally improve attention networks through stimulation in self-regulation.

Aim: Modified versions of the Stroop task have been used in various kinds of clinical conditions. The aim of this study was to develop a Sexual Stroop Task.Method: This study consists of two phases. First phase included designing the sexual Stroop task after searching and selecting Persian sexual and neutral words, and the second phase was related to the pilot study. For finding Persian sexual words, we used four different methods but for neutral words we used the words used in other Stroop studies. Then, we came up with 2 general categories as neutral and sexual words which were randomly specified as green and red colors. The developed computerized version of the Sexual Stroop Task was run on 69 participants as a pilot study. Results: Participants (N=69) had longer response times for words related to sex in comparison to neutral words. And the total time which was spent on sexual words was more than the total time for neutral words. The percentage of the correct neutral words was also higher than correct neutral words.Conclusion: This preliminary study presented a new version of emotional Stoop test that seems to be a promising instrument to study the neuropsychological aspects of sexuality.

We define attention by three basic functions. The first is obtaining and maintaining the alert state. The second is orienting overtly or covertly to sensory stimuli. The third is selection among competing responses. These three functions correspond to three separable brain networks. Control of the alert state develops in infancy but continues to change till adulthood. During childhood, the orienting network provides a means of controlling affective responses, e.g., by looking away from negative events and toward positive or novel events. The executive network mediates between competing voluntary responses by resolving conflicts. Executive control improves rapidly over the first 7 years of life. Autistic spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are two disorders that have been shown to involve deficits in attention networks. We examine connections between developing attention networks and these disorders.

The Vancouver Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (VOCI) is a self-report inventory developed to assess a wide range of Obsessive-Compulsive symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate psychometric properties of the Persian version of the VOCI in non-clinical samples. A questionnaire package including the VOCI, BDI-II, BAI, MOCI, OCI-R and PSWQ was administered to volunteer undergraduate students (n = 233, 139 females, 94 males) from two Iran universities (Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Allameh Tabatabaei University). All the assessments were repeated in the same sample after 2 weeks. Psychometric analyses were run to assess reliability and validity of the Persian version of the VOCI. We converged an exploratory factor analysis to test the factor structure. The VOCI-Persian had good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent and divergent validity. The present study showed that the factor structure of the questionnaire consisted of five main factors: VOCI Contamination, Checking, Obsessions, Hoarding and Perfectionism/Indecisiveness. Further studies are needed to develop psychometric tools with stronger diagnostic performance for OCD assessment.

The concept of meaning has undergone many changes in the course of scientific study of language, thought and behavior. At first, it was explained as something which happens in the mind and then is changed to a product of association of ideas. Today, however, new meaning of meaning has emerged with the emphasis on the experiential basis as has been formulated in the concept of metaphoric expression. In this paper, we report a preliminary study on meaning as measured by a semantic-associative test in four different cultures (Iranian, German, Arabic and American). The findings have been explained in the framework of the primary metaphors and embodiment theory.

Past research has found a high prevalence of neuropsychological deficits and neurological soft signs in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A close relationship between OCD and depression has also been indicated in the literature. However, many aspects of this association remain unclear. In this study we compared neuropsychological functioning and neurological soft signs of 46 OCD patients who were off psychotropic medication (21 with significant depressive symptoms and 25 without) with 25 non-patient comparison subjects. The patients were matched to the comparison group with regard to age, sex, education, marital status and handedness. There were significant differences between OCD patients and the non-patient comparison group on neuropsychological functioning but not on neurological soft signs. As far as working memory concerns there was a significant difference between the OCD depressed and nondepressed groups. But we found no evidence that the neuropsychological functions such as cognitive flexibility, problem solving and spatial perception in OCD to be attributable to comorbid depression. The pattern of neuropsychological deficits in this sample of OCD patients is suggestive of orbito-frontal as well as dorso-lateral prefrontal cortical dysfunction.

The psychometric properties of the Persian-language version of Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory- Revised (OCI-R) were studied in a sample of Iranian college students (N = 450). The total and each of the subscales of OCI-R-Persian demonstrated very high internal consistency as well as high test-retest reliability. Convergent and divergent validity of the OCI-R-Persian total scale and subscales were satisfactory. In general, the OCI-R-Persian appears to be a reliable and valid measure of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in this non-clinical sample of Iranian college students.

The ability to categorize has been known as one of the most important cognitive abilities in human beings. When it comes to the topic of categorization type, it seems different people select differently. Some of them categorize on the basis of similarity judgment and some based on the uni-dimensional rule. The present study attempts to evaluate the tendency toward a specific type of categorization as can be observed in a voluntary group of medical students in Iran. Most of the studies in categorization have been conducted in Western world and some of Eastern-Asian people. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which has been done in categorization in Iran. The results suggest that Iranians, like Eastern-Asian people, tend to categorize mostly based on similarity. There was not any relationship between the IQ scores of the participants and the type of categorization. We also examined the implications of the words “similarity” and “belonging to” as translated into Persian.

One of the main interpretations of life as a poetic metaphorical concept is a stream or a river . In this article we analyze a well-known verse by Hafiz of Shiraz in which life has been conceptualized as a stream, utilizing domain mapping as well as blending theories of metaphor. It is concluded that metaphors, in general, are multi-dimensional structures which involve many cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes, and poetic metaphors, in particular, act as heuristic device for a world view. Their main function is to provide a shift from one frame to another, based on an emergent structure. The reader, in this shifting process, is drawn into the poem not as an observer, but as an active and dynamic participant. Hafiz’ verse provides us with an excellent example of such a shift on the one hand, and the active role of the reader, on the other.

This study examined the clinical validity of a Persian language version of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-Persian). We hypothesized that patients with major depression can be clearly distinguished from non-patient members of general population regarding both frequency of negative thoughts (ATQ-F) and degree of belief in these thoughts (ATQ-B). To test this hypothesis, we used discriminant function analysis in a group of 30 female patients with major depression and 30 female non-patient volunteers. ATQ-F and ATQ-B discriminated the large majority of depressed patients from non-patient volunteers and were correlated with the severity of depression as measured by scores on the Beck Depression Inventory-second edition. The data provide preliminary evidence for clinical validity and utility of ATQ-Persian. Depression and Anxiety 0:1–4, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Contemporary cognitive-behavior therapy underscores the importance of the culture-specific variables in the treatment of psychological problems. The flexibility and strengths of cognitive-behavior therapy provide us with an excellent opportunity to build a cultural model of cognitive-behavior therapy based on the clinical, as well as theoretical, knowledge of the practitioners and researchers working in different cultural settings. As a first step, we need to share our experiences with the other colleagues working in different cultures.

The aim of study was to evaluate sexual function in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients with and without depressive symptoms.Fifty-six married OCD patients referred to the outpatient clinic of Roozbeh Hospital from 2011 to 2013 filled out the demographic questionnaire, obsessive compulsive inventory-revised OCI-R, Maudsley obsessional-compulsive inventory (MOCI), Beck depression inventory-II (BDI-II), international index of erectile function (IIEF), and female sexual function index (FSFI).In total, 80.6% of women and 25% of men had sexual dysfunction and 82% of them had depressive symptoms. Comparing sexual dysfunction in OCD patients with and without depressive symptoms demonstrated that the mean index of IIEF in subscales of erection and satisfaction without depressive symptoms (BDI-II index ≤ 15) is higher than in those with depressive symptoms and the mean index of FSFI showed a marginal significance in the pain subscale of the FSFI.Regarding the possible role of the symptoms of depression on sexual function, sexual assessment in OCD patients should be considered.

Aims: To examine the psychometric properties of a Persian-language version of Hollon and Kendall's (1980) Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-Persian) – a measure of negative automatic thoughts in depression. Methods: In a sample of 125 student volunteers from two Iranian universities we assessed the internal consistency and test–retest reliability of ATQ-Persian, and examined its concurrent validity against the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck et al., 1996). We also examined the factor structure of the test through comparing the fit of various proposed factor-analytic models to the data using confirmatory factor analysis. Results: ATQ-Persian had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96), test–retest reliability ( r = 0.84) and correlation with the Beck Depression Inventory ( r = 0.77). Using a receiver operating characteristics curve, a score of 53 on ATQ-Persian was associated with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 78% for detecting moderate to severe depression defined through Beck Depression Inventory. None of the proposed factorial models fitted the data well. However, models with correlated factors generally provided better fit than models with orthogonal factors, suggesting that the latent factors underlying ATQ-Persian are highly correlated. Conclusions: These data support the reliability and validity of ATQ-Persian as a measure of negative automatic thoughts in depression.

The idea of mediation of elementary mental functions by “psychological tools” or “signs” was introduced and formulated by Vygotsky. The main purpose of this paper is to review some of the important aspects of Vygotsky’s mediational/semiotic psychology as they relate to the concepts of signalling, signification, and culture. It has been suggested that as a matrix reflecting many aspects of life, culture “creates special forms of behavior, modifies the activity of mental functions and adds new stories to the developing system of human behavior.” Culture regulates behavior through generating some “models” which may be reflected in different modes of representations as folk models and metaphors.

Background: The study of distorted beliefs about responsibility attitude and interpretation has become the central theme in Salkovskis’ (1985) and Rachman and Hodgson’s (1980) models of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Aims: The aim of this research is to assess the responsibility attitude in Iranian OCD patients. Methods: Twenty OCD patients were selected through available sampling from the case referred to psychology clinics. Two other patient groups comprised of 20 non-OCD anxiety disorder patients and 20 non-clinical participants were also chosen as comparison groups. All participants completed the Responsibility Attitude Scale (RAS) and Responsibility Interpretation Questionnaire (RIQ). Results: Analyses revealed statistically significant differences between OCD group and comparison groups on both RAS and RIQ. In addition, both RAS and RIQ scores were associated with the severity of OCD assessed by the Yale-Brown scale. Conclusions: These findings suggest that responsibility attitude and interpretations are the prominent features of OCD in Iranian patients and are associated with the severity of illness.

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is perhaps the most commonly used screening instrument for depression in the general population. We examined the psychometric properties of a Persian-language version of the second edition of this instrument (BDI-II) [Beck et al., 1996] in an Iranian college-student sample. In a sample of 125 student volunteers from two Iranian universities, we compared mean item scores on the BDI-II-Persian with those on the English-language version administered to North American college students, and assessed internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the BDI-II-Persian and its concurrent validity against a measure of negative automatic thoughts in depression, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire [Hollon and Kendall, 1980]. We also examined the factor structure of the BDI-II-Persian through comparing the fit of various proposed models to the data using confirmatory factor analysis. The BDI-II-Persian had high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.87) and acceptable test-retest reliability (r=0.74). The instrument correlated strongly with the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire. In factor analysis, models with strongly correlated affective-cognitive and somatic-vegetative factors provided a better fit than models with one global factor. These data support the reliability and concurrent validity of the BDI-II-Persian as a measure of depressive symptoms in nonclinical samples.

Background: Characteristic features of the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) occur with remarkable consistency in different cultural settings. The content of symptoms, however, seems to vary across cultures. Aims: To examine the content of symptoms in a sample of OCD patients from Iran. Methods: In a sample of 135 patients recruited from three treatment settings the prevalence of symptoms with different contents were ranked and compared across genders. Results: Doubts and indecisiveness were the most common obsessions and washing the most common compulsion for the whole sample. Fears of impurity and contamination, obsessive thoughts about self-impurity and washing compulsions were more common in women, whereas blasphemous thoughts and orderliness compulsions were more common in men. Conclusions: With minor differences, the pattern of symptoms with various contents in this sample was similar to that in Western settings.

A metaphor always connects two domains in a way that goes beyond our ordinary category structure. It may be defined a tension - resolvable contextual anomaly with emphasis on mental imagery as an essential constituent of most everyday metaphors. It has been suggested that the main function of metaphor is not dependent solely on the structure or on the alignment of logical relations, but on the implicational and psycho-semiotic transmission of information which brings the direction of processing of the two sides of communication close to each other.

Hebb and Vygotsky are two of the most influential figures of psychology in the first half of the twentieth century. They represent cultural and biological approaches to explaining human development, and thus a number of their ideas remain relevant to current psychology and cognitive neuroscience. In this article, we examine similarities and differences between these two important figures, exploring possibilities for a theoretical synthesis between their two literatures, which have had little contact with each other. To pursue these goals, the following topics are discussed: (a) Hebb and Vygotsky's lives and training; (b) their innovations in theory building relating to an "objective psychology" and objective science of mind; (c) their developmental approach; (d) their treatment of mediation and neuropsychology; and (e) their current relevance and possible integration of their views. We argue that considering the two together improves prospects for a more complete and integrated approach to mind and brain in society.

Background: Although sexual dysfunction is a common problem in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), there are sparse clinical research on the study of the correlation between OCD subtypes and different phases of sexual response cycle. This study was undertaken to assess sexual function and its different phases in a group of Iranian patients with OCD. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The subjects consisted of 56 married OCD patients (36 female, 20 male) who suffered from OCD according to a psychiatric interview and DSM-IV questionnaire based on structured clinical interview for DSM (SCID). Patients were between 18 to 50 year age that had been referred to the outpatient clinic of Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital and three private psychiatric clinics in Tehran (from September 2011 to February 2013). Five Questionnaires were used in this study: Iranian validated form of Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), Maudsley Obsessional Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) and a questionnaire which has provided demographic data and other relevant information regarding sexual function and OCD. Results: The prevalence of sexual dysfunction among female was 80.6% and the frequency of disorders in different subscales of FSFI including sexual desire, sexual arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and sexual pain were 50%, 58.3%, 36.1%, 44.4%, 41.7% and 52.8% respectively. Sexual disorder is reported in 25% of male OCD patients which subscales' evaluation of IIEF shows low sexual desire in 10%, erectile disorder in 20%, orgasmic disorder in 25%, sexual dissatisfaction in 40% and 50% decreased in the total sore of IIEF. Moreover, the correlation coefficients between the total score of OCI-R with erectile and satisfaction subscales of IIEF were statistically significant. The score of washing subscale in OCI-R and sexual satisfaction was significantly correlated. Conclusion: High prevalence of sexual dysfunction in OCD women and significant correlation between male sexual dysfunction and OCD (r= -481.0 between total score of OCI-R with erectile dysfunction and r= -458.0 between total score of OCI-R and sexual satisfaction) could confirm a relation between OCD and sexual disorders. So, evaluation of sexual function in all patients with OCD is recommended.