Beurteilung des Therapieerfolgs – konventionelle versus neue Methoden

New ways of evaluating treatment success among thoracic tumour patients are increasingly being used alongside more conventional methods. These new approaches include tumour regression grading, CAD volumetry (computer-assisted volumetry), determination of the tumour density and tumour perfusion as well as the use of positron emission tomography (PET) using (18)F-FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose) or other tracers. Increasingly, endpoints that impact directly on the patient's quality of life and tumour-related symptoms are becoming more relevant factors together with the objectively measurable parameters used for assessing treatment response. This contribution describes the potential value of new methods and end-points from the point of view of a pathologist, radiologist, nuclear medicine specialist, radiotherapist, thoracic surgeon, medical and pneumology oncologist, and general practitioner

Affect Recognition using Psychophysiological Correlates in High Intensity VR Exergaming

User experience estimation of VR exergame players by recognising their affective state could enable us to personalise and optimise their experience. Affect recognition based on psychophysiological measurements has been successful for moderate intensity activities. High intensity VR exergames pose challenges as the effects of exercise and VR headsets interfere with those measurements. We present two experiments that investigate the use of different sensors for affect recognition in a VR exergame. The first experiment compares the impact of physical exertion and gamification on psychophysiological measurements during rest, conventional exercise, VR exergaming, and sedentary VR gaming. The second experiment compares underwhelming, overwhelming and optimal VR exergaming scenarios. We identify gaze fixations, eye blinks, pupil diameter and skin conductivity as psychophysiological measures suitable for affect recognition in VR exergaming and analyse their utility in determining affective valence and arousal. Our findings provide guidelines for researchers of affective VR exergames.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 665992 </p

Interactive Feedforward for Improving Performance and Maintaining Intrinsic Motivation in VR Exergaming

Exergames commonly use low to moderate intensity exercise protocols. Their effectiveness in implementing high intensity protocols remains uncertain. We propose a method for improving performance while maintaining intrinsic motivation in high intensity VR exergaming. Our method is based on an interactive adaptation of the feedforward method: a psychophysical training technique achieving rapid improvement in performance by exposing participants to self models showing previously unachieved performance levels. We evaluated our method in a cycling-based exergame. Participants competed against (i) a self model which represented their previous speed; (ii) a self model representing their previous speed but increased resistance therefore requiring higher performance to keep up; or (iii) a virtual competitor at the same two levels of performance. We varied participants' awareness of these differences. Interactive feedforward led to improved performance while maintaining intrinsic motivation even when participants were aware of the interventions, and was superior to competing against a virtual competitor

The nonconscious cessation of affiliative motivation: A replication and extension study

Previous research has documented that incidentally processed action-words can produce corresponding behavior and that affective-motivational processes modulate these effects. The present study aimed to (1) replicate earlier work showing that behavioral effects of exposure to social affiliation related action-words (e.g., socialize, party, going-out) cease when these action-words are co-activated with negative stimuli, (2) probe moderation effects of individual differences in the affiliation motive, and (3) examine whether action-word priming effects on behavior rely on specific-word associations rather than the activation of a broad concept. Results of an experimental study (N = 191) showed that exposure-effects of affiliation related words on behavior instrumental in attaining affiliation goals cease when these words were co-activated with negative affect, but this cessation effect was relatively weak and non-significant. Subsequent analyses revealed that the effect was moderated by the affiliation motive: The cessation effect mainly occurred for individuals with a strong affiliation motive. Further, we found no evidence that word priming effects do merely occur via specific-word associations

Live to work or love to work: work craving and work engagement.

OBJECTIVE:According to the theory of work craving, a workaholic has a craving for self-worth compensatory incentives and an expectation of relief from negative affect experienced through neurotic perfectionism and an obsessive-compulsive style of working. Research has shown that workaholism and work engagement should be considered as two distinct work styles with different health consequences. However, the mechanisms underlying the adoption of these work styles have been neglected. The present study proposes that work craving and work engagement are differentially associated with self-regulatory competencies and health. In particular, we expected that the working styles mediate the relationships between emotional self-regulation and health. METHODS:In the cross-sectional study, 469 teachers from German schools completed online administered questionnaires. By means of structural equation modeling, we tested two indirect paths: a) from self-relaxation deficits via work craving to poor health and b) from self-motivation competencies via work engagement to good health. RESULTS:As expected, we found evidence that a) the negative relationship of self-relaxation deficits on health was partially mediated by work craving and b) the positive relationship of self-motivation competencies on health was partially mediated by work engagement. CONCLUSIONS:The present study emphasizes the importance of self-regulation competencies for healthy or unhealthy work styles. Whereas work craving was associated with a low ability to down-regulate negative emotions and poor health, work engagement was associated with a high ability to up-regulate positive emotions and good health

The nonconscious cessation of affiliative motivation: A replication and extension study

<div><p>Previous research has documented that incidentally processed action-words can produce corresponding behavior and that affective-motivational processes modulate these effects. The present study aimed to (1) replicate earlier work showing that behavioral effects of exposure to social affiliation related action-words (e.g., socialize, party, going-out) cease when these action-words are co-activated with negative stimuli, (2) probe moderation effects of individual differences in the affiliation motive, and (3) examine whether action-word priming effects on behavior rely on specific-word associations rather than the activation of a broad concept. Results of an experimental study (<i>N</i> = 191) showed that exposure-effects of affiliation related words on behavior instrumental in attaining affiliation goals cease when these words were co-activated with negative affect, but this cessation effect was relatively weak and non-significant. Subsequent analyses revealed that the effect was moderated by the affiliation motive: The cessation effect mainly occurred for individuals with a strong affiliation motive. Further, we found no evidence that word priming effects do merely occur via specific-word associations.</p></div

Schoolbook Texts: Behavioral Achievement Priming in Math and Language

<div><p>Prior research found reliable and considerably strong effects of semantic achievement primes on subsequent performance. In order to simulate a more natural priming condition to better understand the practical relevance of semantic achievement priming effects, running texts of schoolbook excerpts with and without achievement primes were used as priming stimuli. Additionally, we manipulated the achievement context; some subjects received no feedback about their achievement and others received feedback according to a social or individual reference norm. As expected, we found a reliable (albeit small) positive behavioral priming effect of semantic achievement primes on achievement in math (Experiment 1) and language tasks (Experiment 2). Feedback moderated the behavioral priming effect less consistently than we expected. The implication that achievement primes in schoolbooks can foster performance is discussed along with general theoretical implications.</p></div

Interaction effects of conditioning and affiliation motive on working times in the mouse-click task.

<p>Interaction effects of conditioning and affiliation motive on working times in the mouse-click task.</p