Attention and the habituation of human brain potentials

The lability of the late slow biphasic deflection (i.e. N1-P2) of the vertex EP is examined in relation to selective attention and repetitive stimulation in both the visual and auditory modalities. Amplitude effects are of primary Interest and a capacity theory of attention is applied, with some neurophysiological Justification, throughout the work in order to account for such effects. A range of data analytic techniques relevant to EP research are also evaluated and. In particular, a correlation method for determining the amplitude and latency of individual EPs is described and assessed. Unlike the auditory modality, the amplitude of the N1 component of the visual EP was found to remain invariant with respect to selective attention, although the subsequent P2 component was enhanced to stimuli on the attended channel. The N1 correlate of auditory selective attention was shown to be a reflection of the greater 'mental work' associated with attended stimuli. Various aspects of the fast habituation of the visual EP were explored, including its interaction with slow habituation (using a single trial analysis) and the effect of presentation rate. The role of pupillary mechanisms was also evaluated. The generic term 'fast response decrement' (FRD), which subsumes both the fast habituation and the temporal recovery of the late componentry of the EP, was introduced. Using paradigms based on pairs of stimuli, the mechanisms of both the visual and auditory PRD were investigated. The visual. PRD was not affected by dichoptic presentation and exhibited extensive stimulus generalisation. A refractoriness mechanism for the FRD was finally rejected in favour of a psychological one which represented a marriage of Sokolov's concept of a neuronal model with a capacity theory of attention. Using a novel technique. In which an oscilloscope 'clock' enabled experimental control over temporal uncertainty, it was demonstrated that the Inadequacy of the neuronal model in its temporal aspects was the key variable under pinning the FRD, although in the auditory modality a second variable, designated 'firstness', also appeared to be important

Seeking the Goal in the Process, the Process for the Goal: Organizational Learning in a Public Sector Change Project

This paper describes how a combination of process modelling and goal modelling techniques has been used to facilitate organizational learning. The case study comes from the public sector in the UK. The modelling techniques have helped users to rationalise about the existing processes and then to design how they would like the process to work. The paper describes how the users have been able to confront the complex issues involved. The experience suggests that the combination of the modelling techniques is important to the learning experience of the users involved

The golden circle: A way of arguing and acting about technology in the London ambulance service

This paper analyses the way in which the London Ambulance Service recovered from the events of October 1992, when it implemented a computer-aided despatch system (LASCAD) that remained in service for less than two weeks. It examines the enactment of a programme of long-term organizational change, focusing on the implementation of an alternative computer system in 1996. The analysis in this paper is informed by actor-network theory, both by an early statement of this approach developed by Callon in the sociology of translation, and also by concepts and ideas from Latour’s more recent restatement of his own position. The paper examines how alternative interests emerged and were stabilized over time, in a way of arguing and acting among key players in the change programme, christened the Golden Circle. The story traces four years in the history of the London Ambulance Service, from the aftermath of October 1992 through the birth of the Golden Circle to the achievement of National Health Service (NHS) trust status. LASCAD was the beginning of the story, this is the middle, an end lies in the future, when the remaining elements of the change programme are enacted beyond the Golden Circle

Brain science and early years policy: Hopeful ethos or ‘cruel optimism’?

Ideas that the quality of parental nurturing and attachment in the first years of a child’s life is formative, hard-wiring their brains for success or failure, are reflected in policy reports from across the political spectrum and in targeted services delivering early intervention. In this article we draw on our research into ‘Brain science and early intervention’, using reviews of key policy literature and interviews with influential advocates of early intervention and with early years practitioners, to critically assess the ramifications and implications of these claims. Rather than upholding the ‘hopeful ethos’ proffered by advocates of the progressive nature of brain science and early intervention, we show that brain claims are justifying gendered, raced and social inequalities, positioning poor mothers as architects of their children’s deprivation

Brain-based discourses and early intervention: a critical debate for health visiting

Neuroscientific discourses about early brain development and its plasticity have placed considerable importance upon parenting, emotional nurturing and attachment during the first 1001 ‘Critical Days’. This has informed a policy shift towards early intervention in the early years, and is shaping public health practice in this field particularly health visiting. This paper reviews these developments and outlines a critical debate that has been taking place amongst commentators concerned with how these brain based discourses are being applied in policy. Concerns include the policy readiness of the science, the focus upon parenting quality rather than contextual issues such as poverty, and that these developments are creating a new form of governance of families. In contrast these concerns have not been debated within health visiting raising questions about the profession’s engagement with evidence and policy

Dealing with Feelings: Characterization of Trait Alexithymia on Emotion Regulation Strategies and Cognitive-Emotional Processing

Background: Alexithymia, or "no words for feelings'', is a personality trait which is associated with difficulties in emotion recognition and regulation. It is unknown whether this deficit is due primarily to regulation, perception, or mentalizing of emotions. In order to shed light on the core deficit, we tested our subjects on a wide range of emotional tasks. We expected the high alexithymics to underperform on all tasks. Method: Two groups of healthy individuals, high and low scoring on the cognitive component of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire, completed questionnaires of emotion regulation and performed several emotion processing tasks including a micro expression recognition task, recognition of emotional prosody and semantics in spoken sentences, an emotional and identity learning task and a conflicting beliefs and emotions task (emotional mentalizing). Results: The two groups differed on the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire and Empathy Quotient. Specifically, the Emotion Regulation Quotient showed that alexithymic individuals used more suppressive and less reappraisal strategies. On the behavioral tasks, as expected, alexithymics performed worse on recognition of micro expressions and emotional mentalizing. Surprisingly, groups did not differ on tasks of emotional semantics and prosody and associative emotional-learning. Conclusion: Individuals scoring high on the cognitive component of alexithymia are more prone to suppressive emotion regulation strategies rather than reappraisal strategies. Regarding emotional information processing, alexithymia is associated with reduced performance on measures of early processing as well as higher order mentalizing. However, difficulties in the processing of emotional language were not a core deficit in our alexithymic group

Research on information systems failures and successes: Status update and future directions

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10796-014-9500-yInformation systems success and failure are among the most prominent streams in IS research. Explanations of why some IS fulfill their expectations, whereas others fail, are complex and multi-factorial. Despite the efforts to understand the underlying factors, the IS failure rate remains stubbornly high. A Panel session was held at the IFIP Working Group 8.6 conference in Bangalore in 2013 which forms the subject of this Special Issue. Its aim was to reflect on the need for new perspectives and research directions, to provide insights and further guidance for managers on factors enabling IS success and avoiding IS failure. Several key issues emerged, such as the need to study problems from multiple perspectives, to move beyond narrow considerations of the IT artifact, and to venture into underexplored organizational contexts, such as the public sector. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Health status in the ambulance services: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Researchers have become increasingly aware that ambulance personnel may be at risk of developing work-related health problems. This article systematically explores the literature on health problems and work-related and individual health predictors in the ambulance services. METHODS: We identified the relevant empirical literature by searching several electronic databases including Medline, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL, and ISI Web of Science. Other relevant sources were identified through reference lists and other relevant studies known by the research group. RESULTS: Forty-nine studies are included in this review. Our analysis shows that ambulance workers have a higher standardized mortality rate, higher level of fatal accidents, higher level of accident injuries and a higher standardized early retirement on medical grounds than the general working population and workers in other health occupations. Ambulance workers also seem to have more musculoskeletal problems than the general population. These conclusions are preliminary at present because each is based on a single study. More studies have addressed mental health problems. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptom caseness was > 20% in five of seven studies, and similarly high prevalence rates were reported for anxiety and general psychopathology in four of five studies. However, it is unclear whether ambulance personnel suffer from more mental health problems than the general working population. CONCLUSION: Several indicators suggest that workers in the ambulance services experience more health problems than the general working population and workers in other health occupations. Several methodological challenges, such as small sample sizes, non-representative samples, and lack of comparisons with normative data limit the interpretation of many studies. More coordinated research and replication are needed to compare data across studies. We discuss some strategies for future research

Where bias begins: a snapshot of police officers’ beliefs about factors that influence the investigative interview with suspects

The aim of the current study was to obtain a snapshot of police officer’s beliefs about factors that may influence the outcome of the investigative interview with suspects. We created a 26-item survey that contained statements around three specific themes: best interview practices, confessions and interviewee vulnerabilities. Police officers (N = 101) reported their beliefs on each topic by indicating the level of agreement or disagreement with each statement. The findings indicated that this sample of officers held beliefs that were mostly consistent with the literature. However, many officers also responded in the mid-range (neither agree nor disagree) which may indicate they are open to developing literature-consistent beliefs of the topics. Understanding what officers believe about factors within the investigative interview may have implications for future training. It may also help explain why some officers do not consistently apply best practices (i.e. strong counterfactual beliefs) versus officers who reliably apply literature-consistent practices to their interviews (i.e. knowledge-consistent beliefs).This research is supported by a fellowship awarded from the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Program, The House of Legal Psychology (EMJD-LP) with Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) 2013-0036 and Specific Grant Agreement (SGA) 2015-1610 awarded to Nicole Adams.Published onlin