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The purpose of the present research was to examine the effectiveness of meta-cognitive strategies training on the cognitive failure in patients with general anxiety disorder (GAD). This quasi-experimental design consisted of two groups, with pre-test/ posttest and the control group. Considering the experimental nature of the research and also, with regards to the drop in the number of 30 people (15 in each group), patients with generalized anxiety disorder (DSM-5) were selected according to the available criteria and were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups according to entry requirements. In both groups, the scale of Broadbent et al. Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) was carried out. Then, the experimental group underwent metacognitive strategies in 10 sessions of 90 minutes and the control group did not receive any training. At the end, the same questionnaire was administered in both groups. The results of the two groups were evaluated in two stages using relevant statistical tests. Multivariate covariance analysis showed that meta-cognitive strategies training significantly reduces cognitive failure and its subscales (distraction, memory defects and inadvertent errors) in patients with general anxiety disorder (P<0/05); there was no significant difference between meta-cognitive strategies training with the subscale of not remembering names (P>0/05). Despite the differences in the scores of cognitive failures in the group studied, it is recommended to use metacognitive strategies to reduce the symptoms of cognitive impairment in patients with generalized anxiety disorder.

This study was an attempt to investigate the relationship between spatial memory and Symptoms of Neuroticism in men and women visitors of a flower garden. The participants were chosen by an available sampling method among people who visited flower garden, located in Isfahan, Iran in October 2016. Subjects (woman=36, man=24) were asked to specify approximate locations of eight sites in the flower Garden on the incomplete map of flower garden after visiting the garden. Then, the subjects filled a demographic questionnaire and a short form of Eysenck introversion-extraversion questionnaire. The results showed that the means of spatial memory in men are significantly more than those of women (F= 11.46, p<0.05) and also, neuroticism in men is significantly less than that in women (F=7.22, P<0.05). Furthermore, positive relationship between age and spatial memory (r= 0.41, p<0.01) and negative relationship between neuroticism and spatial memory have been discovered (r= -0.59, p<0.01). According to the results, it can be concluded that neuroticism avoids paying attention to the environment and it causes memory function slump.

This study aimed at scrutinizing the mediating role of critical thinking in relation to higher education students' metacognition and self-efficacy in Islamic Azad University, Nourabad Mamasani. Samples were collected through random sampling method and it was equal to 248. Instruments used in this study were three standard questionnaires including critical thinking, metacognition and self-efficacy. Cronbach's alpha was employed to estimate the instruments’ reliability, based on which critical thinking was found to be 0.88, metacognition 0.89 and self-efficacy 0.87.  Findings revealed that meta-cognition could significantly predict students' self-efficacy and critical thinking. Also, it was found that meta-cognition and critical thinking could significantly predict students’ self-efficacy. This study also showed that critical thinking had a mediating role in relation to students’ meta-cognition and self-efficacy. The dimensions of meta-cognition and critical thinking could significantly predict students’ self-efficacy.