Cue Usage in Conscious and Unconscious Thought

According to the capacity principle of Unconscious Thought Theory (UTT), unconscious thought should outperform conscious thought on complex decision making tasks due to its larger capacity for information (Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006). In this study, participants were asked to complete a prediction task using up to two cues after a period of unconscious thought or deliberation. Some subjects were presented with an intuitive prediction task; others were presented with a non-intuitive one. Contrary to UTT, it was found that unconscious thinkers used fewer cues to make decisions, and they performed worse than conscious thinkers on both intuitive and non-intuitive prediction tasks.No embarg

Symposium - How effective are brief motivational interviewing interventions : Are they necessary? Do they require enhancement? Can they be translated into routine clinical practice? [Conference Abstract]

Brief interventions are effective for problem drinking and reductions are known to occur in association with screening and assessment. Design and methods: This study aimed to determine how much change occurred between baseline assessment and a one-session brief intervention (S1), and the predictors of early change among adults with comorbid depression and alcohol misuse (n=202) participating in a clinical trial. The primary focus was on changes in Beck Depression Inventory fastscreen scores and alcohol consumption (standard drinks per week) prior to random allocation to nine further sessions addressing either depression, alcohol, or both problems. Results: There were large and clinically significant reductions between baseline and S1, with the strongest predictors being baseline scores in the relevant domain and change in the other domain. Client engagement was also predictive of early depression changes. Discussion and Conclusion: Monitoring progress in both domains from first contact, and provision of empathic care, followed by brief intervention appear to be useful for this high prevalence comorbidity..

What else do students need?

This article considers university staff’s place in students’ worlds from a psychodynamic perspective. It looks at ‘studenthood’ as a psychological stage, in which relationship to university and university staff is seen as being recruited into a personal developmental context. It sketches some psychodynamic background for understanding the role students unconsciously assign to staff, in terms of concepts such as transference, projection and containment. It makes connections between mechanisms for early infancy social learning about self/identity and the identity-establishing responses which students need at their stage too. It uses this understanding to explain some of the difficulties which can be experienced in responding to troubled students. We can extrapolate from the more difficult end of the spectrum to inform our general understanding about the dynamics of students’ need for responsiveness and ‘help’, and the article finally briefly considers ‘help’ and ‘problems’ as usually being developmental rather than pathological agents of students’ learning process

Joss Whedon: Finding Religious Themes in a Science Fiction Universe

Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other science fiction television shows, is a devout atheist but still manages to weave religious themes throughout his work, including redemption, free will, and Christ figures. This paper will examine the different themes from Whedon’s shows and encourage the reader to look beyond the entertainment aspect and into the deeper moral meaning of the situations he creates

Pronunciation Pedagogy: Second Language Teacher Cognition and Practice

Over the past few decades, increasing research has examined the cognitions (knowledge and beliefs) of second language (L2) teachers. Such efforts have provided insight into what constitutes teachers\u27 beliefs and knowledge about teaching, how these cognitions have developed and how they are reflected in classroom practice (see Borg, 2006). Although numerous studies have been conducted into the curricular areas of L2 grammar and, to a lesser extent, L2 literacy, far fewer have examined L2 teachers\u27 cognitions concerning L2 pronunciation instruction. The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to explore some of the dynamic relationships that exist between L2 teachers’ cognitions and actual pedagogical practices, how these cognitions have developed over time, and what relationships exist between both students’ and teachers’ perceptions. In the study, the cognitions and practices - as they relate to the teaching of L2 pronunciation - of five experienced teachers in an Intensive English program were investigated. The teachers participated in three types of data collection procedures over one semester - three semi-structured interviews, five classroom observations, and two stimulated recall interviews. Also, their students completed questionnaires. Findings revealed that, in terms of the development of teachers\u27 cognitions, a graduate course dedicated to pronunciation pedagogy had the greatest impact of the teachers’ cognitions. In addition, all teachers experienced some degree of insecurity about teaching pronunciation. This was especially true for teachers who had never taken a course in pronunciation pedagogy. Yet even those teacher with specific training in pronunciation pedagogy lacked confidence in certain areas, especially in how to diagnose and address problems with pronunciation. Furthermore, some of the teachers were hesitant to assess students\u27 pronunciation, fearing that negative feedback might be damaging to the learners\u27 identities. However, through viewing the results of the student questionnaires, the participant-teachers were surprised to learn that students favored receiving explicit feedback in class in front of their peers over other types of feedback. One final major finding was that the teachers predominantly employed controlled techniques when teaching pronunciation and that, of all the techniques used, guided techniques were used less frequently

Feedback on Second Language Pronunciation: A Case Study of EAP Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices

In the modern English language classroom, Abstract: In the modern English language classroom, teachers are often faced with the challenging task of supporting students to achieve comprehensible pronunciation, but many teachers limit or neglect giving students feedback on their pronunciation for a variety of reasons. This paper examines the case of five experienced English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instructors who strive to provide feedback on specific features of pronunciation that negatively affect students’ comprehensibility. Results derived from semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews reveal that the teachers use similar approaches to select and provide feedback on problematic features of pronunciation. Naturally, these approaches sometimes differed to better suit their particular classroom needs. The paper concludes with a discussion of several practical solutions for providing corrective feedback and implications for teacher education programs

Extended Ultraviolet Disks and Ultraviolet-bright Disks in Low-mass E/S0 Galaxies

We have identified 15 extended ultraviolet (XUV) disks in a largely field sample of 38 E/S0 galaxies that have stellar masses primarily below ~4 × 10^(10) M_☉ and comparable numbers on the red and blue sequences. We use a new purely quantitative XUV-disk definition designed with reference to the "Type 1" XUV-disk definition found in the literature, requiring UV extension relative to a UV-defined star formation threshold radius. The 39% ± 9% XUV-disk frequency for these E/S0s is roughly twice the ~20% reported for late-type galaxies (although differences in XUV-disk criteria complicate the comparison), possibly indicating that XUV disks are preferentially associated with galaxies experiencing weak or inefficient star formation. Consistent with this interpretation, we find that the XUV disks in our sample do not correlate with enhanced outer-disk star formation as traced by blue optical outer-disk colors. However, UV-Bright (UV-B) disk galaxies with blue UV colors outside their optical 50% light radii do display enhanced optical outer-disk star formation as well as enhanced atomic gas content. UV-B disks occur in our E/S0s with a 42^(+9)_–8% frequency and need not coincide with XUV disks; thus their combined frequency is 61% ± 9%. For both XUV and UV-B disks, UV colors typically imply <1 Gyr ages, and most such disks extend beyond the optical R_(25) radius. XUV disks occur over the full sample mass range and on both the red and blue sequences, suggesting an association with galaxy interactions or another similarly general evolutionary process. In contrast, UV-B disks favor the blue sequence and may also prefer low masses, perhaps reflecting the onset of cold-mode gas accretion or another mass-dependent evolutionary process. Virtually all blue E/S0s in the gas-rich regime below stellar mass M_t ~ 5 × 10^9 M_☉ (the "gas-richness threshold mass") display UV-B disks, supporting the previously suggested association of this population with active disk growth

Men’s Body Image: The Effects of an Unhealthy Body Image on Psychological, Behavioral, and Cognitive Health

In the past two decades, growing empirical efforts have illuminated the need to understand body image disturbances and preoccupations associated with the male experience. Scholars, practitioners, and more recently, public policy are increasingly interested in the nature, causes, and consequences of men’s body image apprehensions and weight concerns. This accession is largely due to the fact that men are progressively becoming more visible in popular culture (especially through exceedingly lean and muscular depictions) and concurrently, severe body image-related disorders such as anorexia nervosa among men are on the rise. This chapter aims to provide a review of the consequences associated with men’s unhealthy body image including the psychological (e.g., weight distortions and emotional valence), behavioral (e.g., dieting/fasting, substance use, and cosmetic surgery), and cognitive health outcomes particular to the male experience (e.g., appearance schemas, cognitive performance, and cognitive load/malnutrition on cognitive functioning)

Prognosis of Primary Thyroid Lymphoma: Demographic, Clinical, and Pathologic Predictors of Survival

The aim of this study is to assess associations between demographic, clinical and pathologic characteristics of patients with primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL) and survival, using both bivariate and multivariate analyses. We hypothesize that age, stage at diagnosis, and histology will be independent predictors of survival after diagnosis of PTL. Use of surgery to treat PTL will not improve survival. PTL patients were identified in the SEER database. Bivariate (χ2, Kaplan-Meier, and log rank) and multivariate (Cox proportional hazards) analyses were used to assess the associations between patient characteristics and survival. A total of 1,408 patients were identified. Overall, 98% had non-Hodgkin\u27s lymphoma; 68% had diffuse large B-cell, 10% follicular, 10% marginal zone, and 3% small lymphocytic. A total of 88% had stage I or II disease. Median survival was 9.3 years. On bivariate analysis, older age, single marital status, stage II-IV disease, histology (diffuse large B-cell, follicular, or other non-Hodgkin\u27s), earlier year of diagnosis, lack of prior malignancies, and no radiation or surgery predicted worse survival. Age ≥80 years, stage IV disease, no radiation or surgery, and large B-cell or follicular histology predicted worse prognosis in multivariate analysis. Based on the analysis, we conclude that older age, advanced stage, histologic subtype, and lack of radiation or surgical treatment are associated with worse survival. Thyroid resection offers benefit only for patients with stage I disease