Brief report: how adolescents with ASD process social information in complex scenes. Combining evidence from eye movements and verbal descriptions

We investigated attention, encoding and processing of social aspects of complex photographic scenes. Twenty-four high-functioning adolescents (aged 11–16) with ASD and 24 typically developing matched control participants viewed and then described a series of scenes, each containing a person. Analyses of eye movements and verbal descriptions provided converging evidence that both groups displayed general interest in the person in each scene but the salience of the person was reduced for the ASD participants. Nevertheless, the verbal descriptions revealed that participants with ASD frequently processed the observed person’s emotion or mental state without prompting. They also often mentioned eye-gaze direction, and there was evidence from eye movements and verbal descriptions that gaze was followed accurately. The combination of evidence from eye movements and verbal descriptions provides a rich insight into the way stimuli are processed overall. The merits of using these methods within the same paradigm are discussed

Mastering physics?

MasteringPhysics is a tutorial software package. The University of Wollongong adopted it for one stream of first-year physics in second session 2004. The goal of the research is to determine the impact MasteringPhysics had on examination results in the subject and on student opinion of the subject

Real-world experience of secukinumab treatment for ankylosing spondylitis at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath

We reviewed our experience of treating ankylosing spondylitis patients with the IL-17 inhibitor secukinumab at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath. A total of 76 patients were included, of whom secukinumab was the first-line biologic drug used in 24, second line in 23, and third line in 29 patients, respectively. Only 5 patients discontinued the drug due to side effects before their first outpatient review, including 1 new case of inflammatory bowel disease. Significant improvements were seen in all disease outcome measures in patients receiving secukinumab as their first-line biologic agent, with a trend to improved mean BASDAI and BASFI even in patients receiving it as a second- or third-line biologic agent. This real-world analysis adds to the evidence recommending secukinumab as a largely safe and effective treatment for ankylosing spondylitis

What Affects Social Attention? Social Presence, Eye Contact and Autistic Traits

Social understanding is facilitated by effectively attending to other people and the subtle social cues they generate. In order to more fully appreciate the nature of social attention and what drives people to attend to social aspects of the world, one must investigate the factors that influence social attention. This is especially important when attempting to create models of disordered social attention, e.g. a model of social attention in autism. Here we analysed participants' viewing behaviour during one-to-one social interactions with an experimenter. Interactions were conducted either live or via video (social presence manipulation). The participant was asked and then required to answer questions. Experimenter eye-contact was either direct or averted. Additionally, the influence of participant self-reported autistic traits was also investigated. We found that regardless of whether the interaction was conducted live or via a video, participants frequently looked at the experimenter's face, and they did this more often when being asked a question than when answering. Critical differences in social attention between the live and video interactions were also observed. Modifications of experimenter eye contact influenced participants' eye movements in the live interaction only; and increased autistic traits were associated with less looking at the experimenter for video interactions only. We conclude that analysing patterns of eye-movements in response to strictly controlled video stimuli and natural real-world stimuli furthers the field's understanding of the factors that influence social attention

Playing the game: service users' management of risk status in a UK medium secure forensic mental health service

In this article we examine how forensic mental health service users actively attempt to manage their risk status through playing the game of containing frustration and demonstrating compliance. The article draws on an observational study (2006 to 2009) which explored the practices of risk assessment and management within one inner city forensic mental health medium secure service in the UK. We used a grounded theory approach to explore service users and providers experiences of risk assessment and management. We interviewed forensic mental health service users and providers. We also collected data using participant and non-participant observation. Since access to forensic mental health services is tightly controlled, there are participant observation studies undertaken in these settings. We found that service users attempted to understand the system of assessment and sought to affect and reduce their risk status by engaging in overt, compliant behaviours. We argue that in doing so service users are active agents in the process of risk management. However, we indicate that there are adverse effects of this approach to risk management as the risk assessment process is subverted by the restriction of the flow of information, and service users are left with frustrations that they must contain and manage

Will opposites attract? Similarities and differences in students' perceptions of the stereotype profiles of other health and social care professional groups

The extent to which health and social care (HSC) students hold stereotypical views of other HSC professional groups is of great potential importance to team working in health care. This paper explores students' perceptions of different HSC professional groups at the beginning of their university programmes. Findings are presented from an analysis of baseline data collected as part of the New Generation Project longitudinal cohort study which is assessing the impact of interprofessional education over time on a range of variables including stereotyping. Questionnaires were administered to a cohort of over 1200 students from 10 different HSC professional groups entering their first year of university. Stereotypes were measured using a tool adapted from Barnes et al. (2000) designed to elicit stereotype ratings on a range of nine characteristics. The findings confirm that students arrive at university with an established and consistent set of stereotypes about other health and social care professional groups. Stereotypical profiles were compiled for each professional group indicating the distinctive characteristics of the groups as well as the similarities and differences between groups. Midwives, social workers and nurses were rated most highly on interpersonal skills and on being a team player whilst doctors were rated most highly on academic ability. Doctors, midwives and social workers were perceived as having the strongest leadership role, whilst doctors were also rated most highly on decision making. All professions were rated highly on confidence and professional competence and, with the exception of social workers, on practical skills. A comparison of profiles for each professional group reveals that, for example, pharmacists and doctors were perceived as having very similar characteristics as were social workers, midwives and nurses. However, the profiles of nurses and doctors were perceived to be very different. The implications of these similarities and differences are discussed in terms of their potential impact on interprofessional interactions, role boundaries and team working

Theorising interprofessional pedagogic evaluation: framework for evaluating the impact of interprofessional CPD on practice change

This paper outlines the development of a conceptual framework to guide the evaluation of the impact of the pedagogy employed in continuing professional development for professionals in education, health and social care. The work is developed as part of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning: Interprofessional Learning across the Public Sector (CETL: IPPS) at the University of Southampton. The paper briefly outlines the field for pedagogic research and comments on the underpinning theories that have so far been used to guide research into interprofessional learning (IPL). It maps out the development of interprofessional CPD in its specific context as part of the CETL: IPPS with its links to a local authority undergoing service reorganisation and the role of the continuing professional development (CPD) in effecting change. It then brings together a theoretical framework with the potential toexplore, explain and evaluate the essential features of the model of pedagogy used in interprofessional CPD, in which professionals from education have for the first time been included alongside those from health and social care. The framework draws upon elements of situated learning theory, Activity Theory and Dreier’s work (2002, 1999) on trajectories of participation, particularly Personal Action Potency. By combining the resulting analytic framework with an adapted version of an established evaluation model, a theoretically-driven, practicable evaluation matrix is developed. The matrix has potential use in evaluating the impact of pedagogic input on practice change. The paper models a process for developing a conceptual framework to steer pedagogic evaluation. Such a process and the resulting matrix may be of use to other researchers who are similarly developing pedagogic evaluation

Brief report: a comparison of the preference for viewing social and non-social movies in typical and autistic adolescents

The recently proposed Social Motivation theory (Chevallier et al., Trends in cognitive sciences 16(4):231–239, 2012) suggests that social difficulties in Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) might be caused by a difference in the motivation to engage with other people. Here we compared adolescents with (N = 31) and without (N = 37) ASC on the Choose-a-Movie paradigm that measures the social seeking. The results showed a preference for viewing objects over smiling faces in ASC, which is in line with the theory of low social motivation. However, typical adolescents did not show any stimuli preferences, raising questions about developmental changes in social motivation. Age was found to play a significant role in moderating the choice behaviour of the participants. We discuss the implications of these findings in detail

Reduced preference for social rewards in a novel tablet based task in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Atypical responsivity to social rewards has been observed in young children with or at risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These observations contributed to the hypothesis of reduced social motivation in ASD. In the current study we develop a novel task to test social reward preference using a tablet computer (iPad), where two differently coloured buttons were associated with a social and a nonsocial rewarding image respectively. 63 young children, aged 14–68 months, with and without a diagnosis of ASD took part in the study. The experimental sessions were also recorded on video, using an in-built webcam on the tablet as well as an external camera. Children with ASD were found to show a reduced relative preference for social rewards, indexed by a lower proportion of touches for the button associated with the social reward image. Greater social preference as measured using the tablet-based task was associated with increased use of social communicative behaviour such as eye contact with the experimenter and social smile in response to the social reward image. These results are consistent with earlier findings from eye-tracking studies, and provide novel empirical insights into atypical social reward responsivity in ASD

Conflict, compromise and collusion: dilemmas for psychosocially-oriented practitioners in the mental health system

The nature and causes of mental health problems are contested. The dominant approach in services views them as ‘illnesses like any other’. The structure, legislative base and practices of mainstream mental health services are largely predicated on this idea, known variously as the medical, illness, disease or diagnostic model. By contrast, psychosocial theories highlight the role of the events and circumstances of peoples’ lives. The tension between these two approaches can lead to challenges and dilemmas for psychosocially oriented practitioners. Clinical psychologists participated in interviews and a focus group about these challenges and how they managed them. A grounded theory was constructed which suggested that their responses took three forms: openly ‘dissenting’ (conflict), strategically ‘stepping into’ the medical model (compromise), or inadvertently ‘slipping’ into it (colluding). Strategies for managing the challenges included focusing on clients; foregrounding clients’ contexts and understandings; holding the tension between ‘expert’ and ‘not-knowing’ approaches; using ordinary language; forging robust working relationships; being mindful of difference and of constraints on colleagues; recognising one’s power and ability to influence; self-care and work/life balance; taking encouragement from small changes; consolidating a personal philosophy; mutual support and solidarity; drawing on scholarship and finally engaging in activism outside work