Why metacognition Is not always helpful

In many situations, actively engaging in metacognition may improve cognitive achievement and subjective well-being. However, the potential disadvantages of metacognitive engagement are only rarely communicated in metacognition research. In this paper, I outline three ways in which metacognition may reduce cognitive achievement and psychological well-being. First, metacognition may sometimes actively interfere with task performance. Second, the costs of engaging in metacognitive strategies may under certain circumstances outweigh its benefits. Third, metacognitive judgments or feelings involving a negative self-evaluation may detract from psychological well-being. The main contribution of this paper is to integrate findings from different research traditions in order to illustrate the three suggested ways in which metacognition may be unhelpful. An implication of this overview is that although metacognition is most often beneficial to cognitive achievement and subjective well-being, one should bear in mind that it may also have the opposite effect. It is important for researchers and practitioners to take this potential downside of metacognition into account. Practitioners might find it useful to consider the following three questions that relate to my aforementioned claims: Is the nature of the task such that metacognition could interfere with performance? Is the cognitive demand required by the metacognitive strategy disproportionally large compared to its potential usefulness to cognitive achievement? Does metacognition lead to an unhelpful comparison of oneself to others? The same considerations should be kept in mind when researchers and practitioners communicate the potential implications of research findings in metacognition research to audiences within and beyond the research community

Working Under the Gun: A Theoretical Analysis of Stressors Associated With the Re-negotiation of Norms and Control of Work Tasks During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many of the world's nations to impose numerous preventive and mitigative measures to increase social distance, including various forms of home isolation and quarantine. A central premise for the current paper is that the COVID-19 situation is likely to constitute a massive re-negotiation of social and organizational norms, which may lead to psychological distress at the individual, family and interpersonal level. Virtually overnight, people have to re-define what is expected and deemed appropriate by a given group member in a certain social setting. This goes for all kinds of general social interaction, such as societal, even multinational medical demands on social distancing. Simultaneously it also goes for a sudden, gargantuan re-division of labor in a complex global system. We provide a theoretical analysis of the potential consequences of re-negotiation of norms from the perspective of four sets of psychological theory: Theory of professions; organizational strategic crisis responses; the job-demands-resources model; and theories addressing the interplay between norm violations and psychological distance. From these theories we derive three suggestions that the discussion centers around: (1) The COVID-19 situation leads to a massive re-negotiation of norms related to work, (2) The COVID-19 situation diffuses the demarcation between the various professional arenas and the private sphere, and this diffusion enhances the stress associated with norm conflict, and (3) Norm conflicts are enhanced by digitalization. Our discussion centers on potential stressors associated with the renegotiation of norms, and also includes a few suggestions for practice. For each theoretical suggestion, we give examples of how the suggestion may manifest itself with respect to (a) the work task, (b) the individual's relationship to their leader and/or organization, and (c) interpersonal relationships. We finally point to some theoretical and applied implications.publishedVersio

Working for the Best or Bracing for the Worst? Approach and Avoidance Motivation in Planning

Even though planning is generally helpful in goal pursuit, people do not always choose to plan. The inclination to plan might depend on whether we focus on what we seek to approach or what we seek to avoid. In two pre-registered experiments, we tested the relative effect of approach versus avoidance motivation on willingness to plan (total N=1349). With outcome framing as the experimental manipulation, participants were randomly assigned to either an approach or an avoidance condition, and then indicated their willingness to plan their study activities before an upcoming exam. Contrary to predictions, the results showed no significant difference in willingness to plan depending on condition in either experiment. There was mixed support for the importance of anticipated affect and perceived distance as process mechanisms: While Experiment 1 showed that participants who experienced the day of the exam as closer in time were more willing to plan their study preparations (regardless of condition), we found no mediational effects through perceived distance or anticipated affect. In Experiment 2, anticipated affect intensity mediated the association between motivation and willingness to plan, where participants induced to approach motivation predicted greater intensity of anticipated affect upon achieving their goals, and thus were more willing to plan, than participants induced to avoidance motivation. However, such mediational effects without a main effect remain ambiguous and should be interpreted with caution. Seen as a whole, the results suggest that the effect of different motivation types on the willingness to plan may be different than previously thought: They may not influence this aspect of goal striving

A Bedside Method for Measuring Effects of a Sedative Drug on Cerebral Function in Newborn Infants

Background: Data on the cerebral effects of analgesic and sedative drugs are needed for the development of safe and effective treatments during neonatal intensive care. Electroencephalography (EEG) is an objective, but interpreter-dependent method for monitoring cortical activity. Quantitative computerized analyses might reveal EEG changes otherwise not detectable. Methods: EEG registrations were retrospectively collected from 21 infants (mean 38.7 gestational weeks; range 27–42) who received dexmedetomidine during neonatal care. The registrations were transformed into computational features and analyzed visually, and with two computational measures quantifying relative and absolute changes in power (range EEG; rEEG) and cortico-cortical synchrony (activation synchrony index; ASI), respectively. Results: The visual assessment did not reveal any drug effects. In rEEG analyses, a negative correlation was found between the baseline and the referential frontal (rho = 0.612, p = 0.006) and parietal (rho = −0.489, p = 0.035) derivations. The change in ASI was negatively correlated to baseline values in the interhemispheric (rho = −0.753; p = 0.001) and frontal comparisons (rho = −0.496; p = 0.038). Conclusion: Cerebral effects of dexmedetomidine as determined by EEG in newborn infants are related to cortical activity prior to DEX administration, indicating that higher brain activity levels (higher rEEG) during baseline links to a more pronounced reduction by DEX. The computational measurements indicate drug effects on both overall cortical activity and cortico-cortical communication. These effects were not evident in visual analysis

A Bedside Method for Measuring Effects of a Sedative Drug on Cerebral Function in Newborn Infants

Background: Data on the cerebral effects of analgesic and sedative drugs are needed for the development of safe and effective treatments during neonatal intensive care. Electroencephalography (EEG) is an objective, but interpreter-dependent method for monitoring cortical activity. Quantitative computerized analyses might reveal EEG changes otherwise not detectable. Methods: EEG registrations were retrospectively collected from 21 infants (mean 38.7 gestational weeks; range 27–42) who received dexmedetomidine during neonatal care. The registrations were transformed into computational features and analyzed visually, and with two computational measures quantifying relative and absolute changes in power (range EEG; rEEG) and cortico-cortical synchrony (activation synchrony index; ASI), respectively. Results: The visual assessment did not reveal any drug effects. In rEEG analyses, a negative correlation was found between the baseline and the referential frontal (rho = 0.612, p = 0.006) and parietal (rho = −0.489, p = 0.035) derivations. The change in ASI was negatively correlated to baseline values in the interhemispheric (rho = −0.753; p = 0.001) and frontal comparisons (rho = −0.496; p = 0.038). Conclusion: Cerebral effects of dexmedetomidine as determined by EEG in newborn infants are related to cortical activity prior to DEX administration, indicating that higher brain activity levels (higher rEEG) during baseline links to a more pronounced reduction by DEX. The computational measurements indicate drug effects on both overall cortical activity and cortico-cortical communication. These effects were not evident in visual analysis

Spontanitet i leders tenkning gir inntrykk av moralsk motivasjon

Nyere forskning tyder på at når vi skal finne ut hva noens egentlige motiv er, gjøres dette ofte ved at man evaluerer personens kognitive stil. Beslutninger med rot i spontane innfall tolkes gjerne som et uttrykk for genuin moralsk motivasjon, mens veloverveide og gjennomtenkte beslutninger fremstår som mer strategiske og egoistiske. Når ledere kommuniserer bedriftens tiltak for bærekraft og samfunnsansvar, vil tilhørere vurdere hvilke motiv som ser ut til å ligge bak tiltakene. Tiltak som er motivert av genuint moralsk ansvar, vurderes positivt, mens tiltak som tilsynelatende er motivert av økonomisk egennytte, vurderes nøytralt eller negativt. I denne studien undersøker vi mulige faktorer som kan fremme eller hemme inntrykket av genuin moralsk motivasjon. Vi rapporterer resultatene fra to kontrollerte eksperiment (N = 148) der en leder presenterte et tiltak for samfunnsansvar. Vi manipulerte graden av kognitiv spontanitet som lederen uttrykte i forbindelse med tiltaket. Lederen som signaliserte en delvis spontan kognitiv stil, ble oppfattet som mer åpen enn lederen som hadde tenkt grundig før hun bestemte seg for tiltakene, og med en lavere intensjon om å overtale. Dette var indirekte assosiert med større støtte til lederen og tiltakene. Det andre eksperimentet viste derimot at en leder som hevdet å ha kommet på tiltakene gjennom total kognitiv spontanitet, ble evaluert negativt. Samlet sett viser resultatene at ledere som fremstår som delvis spontant tenkende i sine beslutninger, kan oppnå enkelte fordeler.publishedVersio

Premedication for intubation with morphine causes prolonged depression of electrocortical background activity in preterm infants.

Background:Sedative and analgesic medications are used in critically ill newborns, but little is known about their effects on electrocortical activity in preterm infants. We hypothesized that morphine might induce prolonged neurodepression, independent of blood pressure, compared with rapid sequence induction/intubation (RSI).Methods:Of 34 infants enrolled into a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing RSI (including thiopental 2-3 mg/kg and remifentantil 1 microg/kg) with morphine (0.3 mg/kg) as premedication for intubation, 28 infants (n=14+14; median gestational age 26.1 weeks and postnatal age 138 h) had continuous two-channel amplitude-integrated electroencephalogram (aEEG/EEG) and blood pressure monitoring during 24 h after the intubation. Thirteen infants not receiving any additional medication constituted the primary study group. Visual and quantitative analyses of aEEG/EEG and blood pressure were performed in 3-h epochs.Results:RSI was associated with aEEG/EEG depression lasting less than 3 h. Morphine premedication resulted in aEEG/EEG depression with more discontinuous background and less developed cyclicity for 24 h, and during the first 9 h interburst intervals were significantly increased compared to RSI. The difference was not related to blood pressure.Conclusion:Premedication with morphine is associated with prolonged aEEG/EEG depression independent of blood pressure changes, and may not be optimal for short procedures.Pediatric Research (2012); doi:10.1038/pr.2012.153

SISTEM INFORMASI PELAYANAN SURAT MENYURAT DAN DISPOSISI PADA KANTOR KAMPUNG YUWANAIN

Sistem Informasi Pelayanan Surat Menyurat dan Disposisi pada Kantor Kampung Yuwanain merupakan penelitian yang bertujuan untuk mengembangkan sistem yang efisien dalam mengelola proses administrasi surat dan disposisi. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode deskriptif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui studi literatur, observasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Studi literatur digunakan untuk mencari teori yang relevan, sedangkan observasi dilakukan di Kantor Kampung Yuwanain untuk melihat langsung sistem yang ada. Wawancara dilakukan dengan Kepala Organisasi Pemerintah dan Perangkat Kampung untuk mendapatkan informasi yang lebih dalam. Dokumentasi digunakan sebagai sumber data terkait administrasi surat. Data yang terkumpul dianalisis secara deskriptif untuk memahami kondisi dan permasalahan yang ada. Berdasarkan analisis tersebut, sistem informasi akan dikembangkan menggunakan bahasa pemrograman PHP dan database MySQL. Sistem ini akan berbasis web dan memiliki fitur pengelolaan surat masuk dan keluar, pembuatan disposisi, serta pencarian dokumen yang efisien. Implementasi sistem akan diuji menggunakan metode blackbox dan user acceptance test untuk memastikan fungsionalitasnya. Hasil penelitian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan kontribusi dalam meningkatkan efisiensi proses administrasi surat dan disposisi di Kantor Kampung Yuwanain

Development of a modified tool system for lateral angular co-extrusion to improve the quality of hybrid profiles

The application of monomaterials is limited in lightweight construction concepts, because in addition to the weight requirements, the thermal and mechanical demands are constantly increasing. In order to ensure that the right material is used in the right place, the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1153 is concerned with research into innovative process chains that lead to components with locally adapted properties. The lateral angular co-extrusion approach (LACE) allows the manufacturing of hybrid semi-finished products from aluminium alloy EN AW-6082 and steel AISI 5120. Throughout the LACE process, the steel tube is inserted into the extrusion die at an angle of 90° to the pressing direction, where it is covered in aluminium. The coaxial semi-finished products are subsequently formed into a hybrid bearing bushing by die forging. In this study, the LACE process is investigated on an industrial scale using a 10 MN extrusion press. The investigations are carried out by means of finite element (FE) simulation and are validated by a comparison with experimental results. The focus of this study is on the design and improvement of the aluminium material flow. The two major challenges of hybrid profile extrusion are the straightness of the extruded profile and, particularly in this study, the coaxial position of the support element. Within the numerical design process, different mandrel positions and chamber geometries are considered in terms of their influence on the profile quality. The numerically determined tool geometries are subsequently used for experimental investigations using the 10 MN extrusion press. The extruded hybrid profiles are compared with results of the numerical simulations. For the validation of the numerical model, metallographic analyses of the hybrid profiles as well as experimental extrusion force-time curves are used. Based on these results, the final mandrel position and chamber geometries are chosen and serve as a basis for further co-extrusion experiments