The mind’s mirror:A neurocognitive perspective on confidence and metacognition in psychiatry

This thesis investigates the feeling of confidence as a metacognitive construct, exploring its neurobiological foundations, biases, and its relationship with psychiatric symptoms and disorders. Through a series of studies encompassing clinical samples of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or gambling disorder, healthy controls and general population samples, it investigates the disruptions in metacognitive abilities across different contexts. By employing a range of methodologies such as functional MRI, eye-tracking, cognitive computer tasks, questionnaires and computational modelling, we gain a multifaceted understanding of confidence in psychiatry.This work shows confidence abnormalities across various (sub)clinical psychiatric conditions, with specific directions for different symptom presentations. Moreover, it demonstrates that motivational processes can modulate metacognitive. Confidence is explored across multiple hierarchical levels to look at the interplay between confidence and self-beliefs and their relation to transdiagnostic psychopathology.Additionally, it shows that OCD patients exhibit underconfidence across the confidence hierarchy compared to control subjects, but intact metacognitive sensitivity. In patients with GD our studies indicate overconfidence in gambling-related contexts.This thesis also discusses the generalizability of neurocognitive findings from general population samples to clinical samples. It shows that clinical OCD patients have distinct metacognitive patterns (namely, underconfidence) compared to highly compulsive individuals from the general population (namely, overconfidence).Overall, our findings indicate that disturbances in confidence, and in a broader sense, metacognition, are a central aspect of mental health and thereby a potential therapeutic target

MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN MOTORIK KASAR ANAK MELALUI PEMBELAJARAN TARI KREASI BALI

Penelitian ini dilakukan berdasarkan permasalahan kemampuan motorik kasar anak kelompok B-1 PAUD Kasih Sayang Bunda yang belum optimal. Kemampuan motorik kasar anak berkembang dengan optimal melalui stimulasi diluar tingkat yang dicapai hanya melalui kematangan. Tujuan dari penelitian ini yaitu untuk mengetahui apakah pembelajaran tari kreasi Bali dapat meningkatkan kemampuan motorik kasar anak kelompok B-1 PAUD Kasih Sayang Bunda. Metode yang digunakan adalah Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (PTK). Partisipan penelitian ini adalah anak-anak kelompok B-1 PAUD Kasih Sayang Bunda berusia 5-6 tahun yang berjumlah 15 anak. Hasil penelitian menunjukan peningkatan di setiap siklus setelah diterapkannya pembelajaran tari kreasi Bali. Terlihat dari pra siklus tidak ada anak yang berada pada kategori Berkembang Sesuai Harapan (BSH), pada akhir siklus I mengalami sedikit peningkatan dan diakhir siklus II tidak ada anak yang berada pada kategori Belum Berkembang (BB). Sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa pembelajaran tari kreasi Bali dapat meningkatkan kemampuan motorik kasar anak di Kelompok B-1 PAUD Kasih Sayang Bunda. Hal ini terlihat dari anak dapat menggerakan lengan, kaki, leher dalam melakukan gerakan yang berpindah tempat, keseimbangan dan menggunkan alat, dari gerakan yang sederhana ke gerakan yang kompleks dengan iringan tari kreasi Bali. Dengan adanya hasil dari penelitian tersebut, maka pembelajaran tari kreasi Bali dapat direkomendasikan untuk guru dalam kegiatan pembelajaran di Taman Kanak-kanak.;---This research is made based on problem of children’s rough motor ability of group B-1 PAUD Kasih Sayang Bunda that is not optimal yet. The ability of children’s rough motor develops optimally through stimulation out of the achieved level is only through maturity. The aim of this research is to find the objective’s condition, application of Bali creation dance learning, and improvement of children’s rough motor ability of group B-1 PAUD Kasih Sayang Bunda. The method used is Classroom Action Research (CAR). The participant of this research is fifteen children aged 5-6 years of group B-1 PAUD Kasih Sayang Bunda. The result of this research shows improvement in every cycle after the application of Bali creation dance learning. It can be seen from pre-cycle that there is no children in category Developed as Expected (DAE), and there is some improvement at the end of cycle I and no children in category Undeveloped (U) at the end of cycle II. Therefore, it can be concluded that Bali creation dance learning able to improve children’s rough motor ability of group B-1 PAUD Kasih Sayang Bunda. This can be seen from children that are able to move their hands, feet, and necks in performing movement, balance, and using tools from simple movement to complex movement with Bali creation dance offbeat. With the result of this research, it can be recommended for teachers in learning activity in preschool

Characterization of alligator, ostrich and emu skins and comparisons to traditional leathers

Exotic skins and leathers have enjoyed a recent resurgence, as current fashion magazines illustrate. Louisiana would like to increase its niche in the exotic skins market by increasing alligator, ostrich and emu skin usage, mainly by inspiring designers to incorporate them into their repertoire. The possibilities are endless from apparel and trim to upholstery and other home furnishings to accessories; Louisiana exotic skins have significant market potential. In order to assist in these traditional textile applications, characterization of the various skin properties needs to be completed. The research was carried out in three stages. For the preliminary research, one emu skin was thoroughly tested by standard and modified methods to characterize the physical properties of the skins. In the second phase, testing techniques determined effective for emu skin were used to measure properties of alligator skins. As a result, a database of physical properties was created that permitted comparisons of the exotic skins to their more traditional leather counterparts. The final stage of the research was to test ostrich and traditional leathers by the established methods and perform statistical comparisons of the skins, to compare exotic to traditional leather. There were very few significant differences between the exotic and traditional leathers. Finish had an impact on the performance of the skins. Garment finished skins were more extensible than skins with classic finishes, had a softer hand and less stiffness. Deer, pig and cowhide had higher tensile extensilbilities than the alligator skins, which were stiffer. In colorfastness testing, alligator and ostrich samples were similar to cowhide, goat and buffalo, and superior to suede, deer, lamb and pig in staining fibers with which the skin was in contact during dry-cleaning. Based on their similar physical properties, the exotic skins can successfully be substituted for their more traditional counterparts. If destruction of a hide is not an option, preliminary research indicates that NIR can predict Young’s modulus as measured by the tensile test, which can be correlated to other physical properties

Developing vegetation metrics for the assessment of beneficial uses of impounded wetlands surrounding Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Many wetlands around Farmington Bay of Great Salt Lake are managed waterfowl habitat by means of impounding the flow at the terminus of the Jordan River. The majority of the Jordan River flow is comprised of the secondary-treated effluent of several municipal waste water treatment plants (WWTP), resulting in elevated phosphorus concentrations. This study was initiated to determine whether the assimilative capacity for phosphorus of the impounded wetlands had been exceeded, resulting in a negative impact to the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the wetlands. The majority of the SAV is sago pondweed and western fineleaf pondweed (Stuckenia pectinata and S. filiformis ssp. occidentalis, respectively), highly preferred food items for waterfowl. Utah Department of Environmental Quality had identified support for waterfowl and shorebirds and the aquatic life in their food chain as the primary beneficial use of these wetlands, and thus, loss or degradation of Stuckenia prior to waterfowl fall staging and migration may constitute a loss of this important beneficial use. Therefore, Utah needs vegetation metrics what will indicate relative health of a wetland with respect to the abundance, density and health of the SAV and the level of nutrient loading it receives. The primary goal of this ongoing study is to develop wetland assessment methods that will be used to establish water quality standards and methods for Clean Water Act 305(b)/303(d) assessments-one of the first attempts by any state of the U.S. to set wetland water quality standards through development of site-specific assessment protocols. To develop metrics that describe the relationship between nutrient gradients and biological responses, we are 1) testing potentially useful parameters for their utility in assessing wetland condition; and 2) refining condition metrics that will identify thresholds of significant change (impairment) that can be attributed to nutrients. This paper presents the first of several potentially useful vegetation metrics. Our analyses showed that percent areal cover of SAV in nutrient enriched wetlands senesced 62-84% from July through November whereas the vegetation in a non-impacted reference wetland remained stable. The fall senescence occurs at a time when migratory waterfowl rely on submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) for sustenance

A holistic design perspective on media capturing and reliving

Copyright © 2016 ACM. People capture far more media than they are able to relive. In this paper we identify the discrepancy between media capturing and media reliving from a design perspective. We propose a holistic perspective, that invites designers of media experiences to considering all three interdependent aspects of the media process: media capturing interaction, specific media, and media reliving interaction. By adopting this view, we aim to ensure that the media that is captured will be both necessary and appropriate for the intended reliving experience. We illustrate our perspective with three design concepts. Finally, in the discussion we present several topics related to media capturing and reliving

Designing interaction in digital tabletop games to support collaborative learning in children

Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. According to Dillenbourg et al. (1996), collaborative learning occurs when two or more people try to learn something together. This process consists of four successive stages, one of which concerns collaborative interactions. In this paper we present two studies that implemented two different ways of increasing the number of collaborative interactions. To increase the number of collaborative interactions in a game, the first study focused on degrees of collaboration (Kahn and Mentzer, 1996) and the second study focused on cooperative gestures (Morris et al., 2006a), which were used in the third degree of the first study. In order to facilitate collaborative interactions and its properties (Dillenbourg, 1991), we decided to design two digital tabletop games with tangible interaction that both require collaboration to win. The evaluations in both studies, by means of the Wizard of Oz method, showed a significant increase in collaborative interactions. We also found that verbal and gestural interactions are a better measure criterion for tabletop games than how much people look at each other

Early Adversity and Late Life Employment History—A Sequence Analysis Based on SHARE

Numerous studies have linked poor socioeconomic circumstances during working life with early retirement. Few studies, however, have summarized entire patterns of employment histories and tested their links to social position at earlier stages of the life course. Therefore, this article summarizes types of late life employment histories and tests their associations with adversity both during childhood and early adulthood. We use data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with retrospective life history data on 5,857 older men and women across 14 countries. Employment histories are studied with annual information on the employment situation between ages 50 and 70. To summarize employment histories we apply sequence analysis and group histories into 8 clusters with similar histories. Most of these clusters are dominated by full-time employees, with retirement before, at or after age 60. Additionally, we find clusters that are dominated by self-employment and comparatively late retirement. The remaining clusters are marked by part-time work, continuous domestic work, or discontinuous histories that include unemployment before retirement. Results of multinomial regressions (accounting for country affiliation and adjusted for potential confounders) show that early adversity is linked to full-time employment ending in retirement at age 60 or earlier and to discontinuous histories (in the case of women), but not to histories of self-employment. In sum, we find that histories of employees with early retirement and discontinuous histories are part of larger trajectories of disadvantage throughout the life course, supporting the idea of cumulative disadvantage in life course research

From PhotoWork to PhotoUse: exploring personal digital photo activities

© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. People accumulate large collections of digital photos, which they use for individual, social, and utilitarian purposes. In order to provide suitable technologies for enjoying our expanding photo collections, it is essential to understand how and to what purpose these collections are used. Contextual interviews with 12 participants in their homes explored the use of digital photos, incorporating new photo activities that are offered by new technologies. Based on the qualitative analysis of the collected data, we give an overview of current photo activities, which we term PhotoUse. We introduce a model of PhotoUse, which emphasises the purpose of photo activities rather than the tools to support them. We argue for the use of our model to design tools to support the user’s individual and social goals pertaining to PhotoUse

Making history: intentional capture of future memories

Lifelogging' technology makes it possible to amass digital data about every aspect of our everyday lives. Instead of focusing on such technical possibilities, here we investigate the way people compose long-term mnemonic representations of their lives. We asked 10 families to create a time capsule, a collection of objects used to trigger remembering in the distant future. Our results show that contrary to the lifelogging view, people are less interested in exhaustively digitally recording their past than in reconstructing it from carefully selected cues that are often physical objects. Time capsules were highly expressive and personal, many objects were made explicitly for inclusion, however with little object annotation. We use these findings to propose principles for designing technology that supports the active reconstruction of our future past