Editorial

Abstract

This issue of Nordic Psychology has a number of interesting and important articles to be read during the beautiful Nordic fall. The articles cover important and interesting themes like working memory, social support, the Modified Cognitive Reserve Scale, the normative dimensions of educational psychological practice and a critique of Hattie’s theory of Visible Learning. In the first article of this issue “Face-to-face working memory training does not enhance children’s reading comprehension a pilot study with Danish children” Hanne Knudsen and Kristine Jensen de L opez test a non-computerized Working Memory training method to improve children’s reading comprehension in a longitudinal design. 38 Danish children in 3rd and 4th grade divided into a training group and a control group. The results showed that Verbal Working Memory and reading comprehension were not improved following training. Visuo-spatial Working Memory improved at post-training, but the effect did not last into the one-year follow up. The role of Working Memory in reading comprehension and the pedagogical implications for teaching are discussed in the article. In the second article of this issue “Why does Perceived Social Support Protect against Somatic Symptoms: Investigating the Roles of Emotional Self-Efficacy and Depressive Symptoms” Ingrida Grigaityte and Patrik S€ oderberg investigate the roles of emotional self-efficacy and depressive symptoms as mediators of the effect of social support on physical health, based on a regionally representative sample in Finland. The study found that (a) perceived social support was associated with less somatic symptoms, (b) the relationship between perceived social support was partially and significantly mediated by both emotional self-efficacy and depressive symptoms, and (c) there was sign of a moderated mediation: the association between perceived social support and somatic symptoms was stronger for girls than for boys, and this association was primarily accounted for by the mediating role of depressive symptoms. In third article of this issue “Active lifestyle as a reflection of cognitive reserve – the Modified Cognitive Reserve Scale” Kristiina Relander, Kaisa M€aki, Soinne Lauri, Juan Garc ıa-Garc ıa and Marja Hietanen examine the usefulness, validity and reliability of a modified Finnish translation of the Cognitive Reserve Scale, the Modified Cognitive Reserve Scale. The Modified Cognitive Reserve Scale consists of 20 questions concerning studying and information seeking, hobbies and social relationships during three age phases. A group of 69 neurologically healthy adults aged 26–78 filled the Modified Cognitive Reserve Scale and completed a neuropsychological test battery. The result showed that the Modified Cognitive Reserve Scale was significantly associated with occupation and education but not with age or gender. There were significant associations between the Modified Cognitive Reserve Scale and verbal reasoning, visual reasoning, learning, and inhibition. The study suggests that the Modified Cognitive Reserve Scale is a reliable and valid method to assess lifelong leisure activity. In the fourth article of this issue “The Normativity of Educational Psychology Practice” Thomas Szulevicz argues that normative reflections tend to be overseen in educational psychology practice. The article further claims that when taking a closer look at educational psychology practice, focus has mainly been on how educational