Every day we make numerous decisions. Some are better than others. Intuitive decisions usually results in less good decisions when we do not reason about our choices. Research has been interested about the process that is behind how we make good decisions. Decisions we face every day, such as when we shop, determined using various mental shortcuts that we use unconsciously.

In recent years cognitive training in order to improve cognitive abilities have becomeincreasingly popular and a lot of research has been conducted within this field. The natural agingprocess has a negative effect on many of our cognitive abilities and this relationship also has a strongconnection with hearing loss. Elderly with hearing loss is therefore a group that could benefit fromcognitive training. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate different types of cognitivetraining directed towards working memory in older adults and to examine the results observedregarding efficacy of this type of training and its transfer effect. Method: A literature reviewconsisting of 17 scientific articles published between 2005-2014.

The purpose of this thesis is to get an improved understanding of what the bases for relevance are, when people in real information need situations make relevance judgements. In order to meet this purpose, an investigation based on research literature is performed. Four types of relevance are investigated: topical or subject relevance, cognitive relevance or pertinence, situational relevance or utility, and socio-cognitive relevance. The investigation also deals with users relevance criteria identified in fourteen empirical studies, in which the users are adults and engaged in oral, textual, and multimedia information retrieval. Finally, the connections between the user criteria found and the types of relevance are discussed.

Due to better nutrition, veterinary and overall care, pet dogs? lifespan has increased. With more old dogs we see more health problems associated with age, among those cognitive decline, leading to deficits in learning and memory, disorientation, anxiety and other altered behaviors. Cognitive decline can have severe negative impacts on the life of both dog and owner, when the dog for example forgets being housetrained or starts being awake at night. Two pet food manufacturers have developed food with specific ingredients in order to improve cognitive functions or delay the onset of cognitive impairment. Hill?s Pet Nutrition has developed a dog food with supplements of a broad spectrum of antioxidants and mitochondrial nutrients, aiming to diminish oxidative damage in the brain, thereby maintaining brain function and improving learning ability.

This master thesis deals with events, dynamics and problems of mediated information seeking within the context of a new information service called "Book a librarian". The study, based on a survey and interviews both in academic and public libraries and participant observations in academic libraries, has its theoretical base in the cognitive theory of information retrieval interaction. The cognitive view is used to throw light upon the need of an ongoing dialogue during the session in order to detect the information needs of the user and to conduct a successful retrieval of information. The communicative interaction is seen as threepart interaction between the intermediary, the user and the information system, where the current cognitive states of all three participants are involved. The study shows that the cognitive obstacles for a successful mediation and information retrieval are mostly connected to participants current knowledge of the subject and of the retrieval techniques.

There is strong evidence that cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is effective. The aim of this study was to compare 7 group-sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for insomnia (MBCT-I) with 3 group-sessions of CBT-I, on sleep measures and sleep related psychological processes, such as pre-sleep arousal, thought control strategies and mindfulness. Participants (N = 44; age 18-66) with long term insomnia were stratified and randomized into waiting list, MBCT-I and CBT-I. Significant improvements were seen in both groups, compared to waiting list, for instance on insomnia severity, sleep latency and restorative sleep. Small improvements on psychological processes were also found in both groups.

Uppsats för avläggande av filosofie kandidatexamen i Kulturvård, Trädgårdens hantverk och design, 15 hp, 2015.

Credits are considered as a natural financing form for all types of companies. The financial market in Sweden is dominated by four banks and the credit appraisals that are done by these banks are partly based on credit reports from external companies. This thesis? purpose is to increase the knowledge of which the consequences of payment remarks can imply for companies in relation to the banks. A qualitative study has been done to relay to the purpose, through the means of interviews with four companies, four banks, one rating institute and a collecting agency.

Den här undersökningen handlar om hur flickor respektive pojkar i en årskurs fem använder värderande uttryck i sina narrativa texter. 22 elevtexter, 11 skrivna av flickor och 11 skrivna av pojkar, har analyserats enligt Appraisal framework. Jag har undersökt hur många och vilka typer av värderande uttryck eleverna använder och även hur de har fördelat uttrycken över texterna i förhållande till den narrativa berättelsestrukturen. Resultaten visar att flickorna använder värderande uttryck i större utsträckning än pojkarna. Fördelningen över de olika typerna av värderande uttryck liksom fördelningen av uttrycken över texten är dock ganska likartad för flickorna och pojkarna.This study concerns the use of evaluation in narrative texts written by pupils in fifth grade.

Human capital is professional service firms' most valuable resource and its quality is closely linked to the quality of its services. The purpose of this study is to investigate how professional service firms appraise their employees. A comparative study between an architecture firm and a management consulting firm is conducted with the aim to identify and explain similarities and differences in performance appraisal. Two qualitative case studies are performed and interviews as well as documents are used to explore the area. The thesis builds on a critical perspective and it has an explorative approach.

 Performance appraisals- a study of the performance appraisals significance as a tool for development in the public sector.Anders Larsson and Åsalill OlssonPerformance appraisals have been given a central role in leading businesses in the public sector and are seen as a tool to create development opportunities and achieve better results. This has resulted that performance appraisal in many organizations takes up capacity and time. This was the starting point of our interest to study whether the time spent on performance appraisals effectively pays for itself in the organization, in other words whether the effects expected actually are achieved. The paper examines first line managers` views on staff appraisal purposes and effects of a function within the Landstinget. The survey design, methodology and transaction are of qualitative and quantitative method with three different sources: literature review of previous research, interviews with first line managers in Landstinget Västmanland and the results from an employee satisfaction survey conducted on behalf of Landstinget Västmanland.

Bakgrund: Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) ?r en behandlingsmetod d?r arbetsterapeuten guidar patienten att hitta egna strategier f?r att n? sina m?l. Syfte: Syftet med den h?r intervjustudien ?r att unders?ka arbetsterapeuters erfarenheter av att anv?nda Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) som behandlingsmetod f?r vuxna. Metod: Inklusionskriterier f?r urval av deltagare var leg. arbetsterapeuter med erfarenhet av att anv?nda behandlingsmetoden CO-OP med vuxna patienter. Datainsamlingen gjordes genom kvalitativa intervjuer, datan bearbetades genom kvalitativ inneh?llsanalys. Resultat: Utifr?n analys av den insamlade informationen fr?n intervjuer framkom fyra kategorier och nio underkategorier.

 Performance appraisals- a study of the performance appraisals significance as a tool for development in the public sector.Anders Larsson and Åsalill OlssonPerformance appraisals have been given a central role in leading businesses in the public sector and are seen as a tool to create development opportunities and achieve better results. This has resulted that performance appraisal in many organizations takes up capacity and time. This was the starting point of our interest to study whether the time spent on performance appraisals effectively pays for itself in the organization, in other words whether the effects expected actually are achieved. The paper examines first line managers` views on staff appraisal purposes and effects of a function within the Landstinget. The survey design, methodology and transaction are of qualitative and quantitative method with three different sources: literature review of previous research, interviews with first line managers in Landstinget Västmanland and the results from an employee satisfaction survey conducted on behalf of Landstinget Västmanland.

The purpose of this paper was to gain knowledge about the conversation about developmental opportunities in the organization, and how a company uses it. The focus was on four different themes, purpose of the conversation about developmental opportunities in the organization, planning, execution and content, feedback. The sample consisted of six people, three employees and three managers of the company. The interviews were conducted by an interview guide, one for the employees and one for the managers. The results of the interviews showed that the conversation about developmental opportunities in the organization was used by managers to make all employees to strive in the same direction, an opportunity for employees to reconcile how their work performance is perceived by their managers, the use of a preparation model differs between managers and feedback was important.

I denna studie undersöks polisstudenters och yrkesverksamma polisers bruk av evalueringar i avrapporterings-pm. Evalueringar är språkhandlingar som värderar, bedömer, uttrycker känslor eller ståndpunkter. Förekomsten av evalueringar har undersökts genom en Appraisal­analys, som är en form av textanalys. Materialet består av tio yrkestexter och tio studenttexter. Evalueringarna beskrivs och ställs i relation till de krav på objektivitet som finns i Rikspolisstyrelsens riktlinjer för skrivande (2011).