Moral enhancement: do means matter morally?

One of the reasons why moral enhancement may be controversial, is because the advantages of moral enhancement may fall upon society rather than on those who are enhanced. If directed at individuals with certain counter-moral traits it may have direct societal benefits by lowering immoral behavior and increasing public safety, but it is not directly clear if this also benefits the individual in question. In this paper, we will discuss what we consider to be moral enhancement, how different means may be used to achieve it and whether the means we employ to reach moral enhancement matter morally. Are certain means to achieve moral enhancement wrong in themselves? Are certain means to achieve moral enhancement better than others, and if so, why? More specifically, we will investigate whether the difference between direct and indirect moral enhancement matters morally. Is it the case that indirect means are morally preferable to direct means of moral enhancement and can we indeed pinpoint relevant intrinsic, moral differences between both? We argue that the distinction between direct and indirect means is indeed morally relevant, but only insofar as it tracks an underlying distinction between active and passive interventions. Although passive interventions can be ethical provided specific safeguards are put in place, these interventions exhibit a greater potential to compromise autonomy and disrupt identity

Interactive effects of video, priming, and music on emotions and the needs underlying intrinsic motivation

Objectives: Emotions can enhance motivation towards a particular goal (Brehm, 1999), while activation of human motivation does not necessarily involve conscious processes (Bargh, 1990). The main purpose of the present study was to explore the impact of video, priming, and music on a range of emotion- and motivation-related variables, while the secondary purpose was to conduct a cross-cultural comparison. Design: A randomized controlled design was employed to address the interactive effects of video, priming, and music on emotions and motivation with reference to the circumplex theory of emotion. Methods: Participants comprised a convenience sample of 210 volunteers (English, n = 128; M = 20.0, SD = 4.7 years; Male, n = 65; Female, n = 63; Greek, n = 82, M = 23.3, SD = 2.4 years; Male, n = 59; Female, n = 23). A control condition and five experimental conditions were presented to participants in a counterbalanced order. The needs underlying intrinsic motivation were accessed using the Activity Feeling-state Scales (AFS; Reeve & Sickenius, 1994), while emotional states were assessed using adjectives from the Circumplex Model of Affect (Russell, 1980). Results: Findings showed that music had positive effects on emotional states and the psychological needs underlying intrinsic motivation. They also highlighted the positive effects of priming as a psychological intervention – particularly when presented through video and coupled with music. Conclusions: The study presents the state-of-the-art for the use of video, priming, and music in sport and includes recommendations for sport psychology practitioners and researchers

EEG Biofeedback as a Treatment for Substance Use Disorders: Review, Rating of Efficacy, and Recommendations for Further Research

Electroencephalographic (EEG) biofeedback has been employed in substance use disorder (SUD) over the last three decades. The SUD is a complex series of disorders with frequent comorbidities and EEG abnormalities of several types. EEG biofeedback has been employed in conjunction with other therapies and may be useful in enhancing certain outcomes of therapy. Based on published clinical studies and employing efficacy criteria adapted by the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback and the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research, alpha theta training—either alone for alcoholism or in combination with beta training for stimulant and mixed substance abuse and combined with residential treatment programs, is probably efficacious. Considerations of further research design taking these factors into account are discussed and descriptions of contemporary research are given

Social activity of the youth: Approaches to the assessment of forms, motives and factors in the contemporary Russian society

Despite the fact that the social activity of young people has become actual and popular topic of the official and scientific discourses, the methodological aspects of its sociological study still do not attract the necessary research attention. The authors note the popularization of the subject in the sociologically relevant way in the mid-1960s and in the first part of the article summarize the conceptual and categorical apparatus for its study, in particular, the diversity of approaches to the definition of the ‘social activity’, its motives (socially significant needs primarily), subjective ‘dimension’, structural levels, types of goals (substantive, procedural, pragmatic and altruistic, collective or personal, etc.) as well as its actual forms (personal, group, institutional, and others) and internal and external factors of its development. The authors focus on the practical theory of reframing proposed by C. Clement and consider through it the results of national surveys conducted in Russia in recent years to assess the interpretations and the scope of the social activity of Russians in general and the youth in particular. Thus, the data show the minor involvement of citizens in social activities and its mainly declarative nature. The most important form of the youth social activity nowadays is the participation in the non-profit organizations, especially public unions, that is why the authors conclude the overview of the features and manifestations of the social activity of young people in the contemporary Russian society with the description of the types and functions of public associations, the basic analytical approaches to their study and the assessment of the true extent of their current activity