Talking About Motherhood Matters: Articulation of Population Policies through National Day Rally Speeches in Singapore

Women’s reproductive rights have always been a site of contestation. The central question this paper seeks to answer is how motherhood is constructed through the repetition of population policies by government officials and how this articulation becomes the script through which motherhood is in turn performed. This paper examines the rhetorical construction of what it means to be a mother in Singapore through the analysis of National Day Rally Speeches. Two themes emerged from this analysis: (1) Motherhood is an expensive experience and, (2) Motherhood required lifestyle changes. By unwittingly painting motherhood as negative experiences, population policies in Singapore could not achieve its goals. Hence, the articulation of population policies should also be considered in order to give women a positive script to performance motherhood

Unpacking the Neural Correlates of Flow

Flow is a highly positive experience occurring during an intense engagement in a challenging and enjoyable activity. Although this psychological construct was introduced decades ago, its underlying neural correlates have yet to be properly characterised. Further, most relevant research has considered tasks (like mental arithmetic) that are less engaging and when conducted in the controlled environment of a lab, do not reflect the conditions under which flow is usually experienced. Here, we suggest an alternative framework to study flow by studying musicians, who are engaged in a complex activity they find intrinsic enjoyment and meaning in, and argue that this represents a valid, if technically challenging, opportunity to collect neurophysiological data under conditions conducive to flow and reflect an experience more recognisable as the optimal experience often described as flow. We conducted several independent electrophysiological experiments on professional musicians’ (N=88) self-induced flow state during music performance. Brain responses in the post-flow state, as compared to the post-non-flow state, were associated with lower delta (1-4 Hz) and increased upper alpha (10-12 Hz) and beta (15-30 Hz) power. Effects were predominantly observed over prefrontal brain regions. A neural index of interoception, or how the brain perceives visceral signals, also differed after musicians played music that induced flow versus music that did not. These findings offer novel insight into the neural mechanisms underlying flow experience. Finally, this state of effortless attention and high performance has been described in remarkably similar terms across a wide range of activities. Therefore, as a proof of concept, we conducted a pilot experiment on climbers in action on a climbing wall outside the laboratory environment and discuss some initial findings. Resting state data was also studied to look for neural correlates to dispositional flow. Finally, monoaural beats were used to alter brain states in order to induce flow. These experiments reflect three different ways of studying the neural correlates of flow that can help us reach a comprehensive picture of the brain in flow

What Does it Take to Flow? Investigating Links Between Grit, Growth Mindset, and Flow in Musicians

While it may seem effortless for great musicians to deliver beautiful works of art, little is known about the hard work behind these performances. Musicians require grit to sustain effort over many years of training but flow can sweeten this experience. Growth mindset, referring to the belief that ability is malleable, is often related to grit and has been theorised to be conducive to flow. Self-identified musicians, between 18 and 57 years of age (N = 162), participated in an online survey investigating the potential links between grit, growth mindset and dispositional flow. Correlational analyses revealed that grit was a significant predictor of flow but no correlations between growth mindset and grit or flow were found. Furthermore, a hierarchical regression analysis taking into account participants’ musical training, personality traits and performance anxiety found that grit did not predict dispositional flow over and above what can be predicted by practice hours and music performance anxiety. Altogether, these findings offer a closer look at the effects of the non-cognitive factors of growth mindset and grit on the experience of flow in music performance

Flow in contemporary musicians: Individual differences in flow proneness, anxiety, and emotional intelligence

Flow is a highly focused state of consciousness that is rewarding, fulfilling, and sought after by many, especially musicians. It is characterized by exceptional levels of concentration, loss of self-consciousness, and competent control over one’s actions. Several personality and non-cognitive traits have been positively linked with flow proneness, such as emotional intelligence; however, anxiety is thought to be the antithesis of flow, yet the relationship between trait anxiety and flow proneness in musicians is not adequately characterized. This study investigated the individual differences in flow proneness in contemporary musicians (N=664), focusing on the interaction of trait anxiety and emotional intelligence. We identified a significant negative correlation between trait anxiety and flow. Emotional intelligence was positively correlated with flow proneness and negatively with trait anxiety. Moderation analysis revealed a difference in the relationship between trait anxiety and flow depending on the level of emotional intelligence; there was no correlation in those with low emotional intelligence, whereas a strong negative relationship was found in those with high emotional intelligence. Finally, hierarchical regression indicated that musical training was the most substantial predictor of all the tested variables and that trait anxiety did not add any predictive power on top of the known predictors. Altogether, this study provided new insights into the possible disruption of flow proneness linked to high anxiety and low emotional intelligence in contemporary musicians

Exploring Consumer Mobile Payment Adoption: A Multi-Country Study

The increasing popularity of mobile technologies is reshaping human activities including financial transactions. This research focuses on the use and acceptance of NFC-enabled proximity mobile payment (m-payment). This research builds on previous research highlighting the various factors influencing the use and acceptance of m-payment through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation of (DoI). The results indicate a statistically significant relationship between compatibility, personal innovativeness, and behavioural intention to use m-payment. The findings of this study confirm the influence of external factors, i.e., compatibility and personal innovativeness, determines the end-users’ perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of m-payment which subsequently determines their attitude towards using m-payment and the intention to use m-payment

A FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE INTERGROUP SENSITIVITY EFFECT: THE MODERATING ROLE OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION, POWER, AND CATEGORY DIFFERENTIATION

Master'sMASTER OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Development of Cognitive Training Game to Enhance Cognitive Process of Children with Learning Difficulty

This paper discusses the development of cognitive training games based on meta-cognitive technique and to aid in enhancing cognitive processes among children with a learning difficulty (especially having problems paying attention and responding to stimuli accurately). The study was conducted on four (4) primary school students in the Bio-neurofeedback laboratory at the Faculty of Psychology and Education, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The instruments used in this study include a cognitive training game, which consists of Neuro Game: Number and Neuro Game: Location to measure cognitive process and response accuracy to stimuli. The Mind Wave EEG Headsets measure the attention level of participants and computer to display the game and monitor participants’ cognitive processes. The effectiveness of the cognitive training game is tested by comparing the mean score of attention and mean score of accuracy response to stimuli of participants at the initial five training sessions and a subsequent five training sessions. The pretest result shows no significant increment in participants’ attention score and accurate response to stimuli score from the first five cognitive training sessions to the end of the session. These results are not as expected. However, the cognitive training game is believed to measure and improve children's cognitive process with further improvement with learning difficulty. One of the encouraging findings in the current study is the neuro game designed by the researchers can be used as an inventory to measure individual attention level and accuracy response to stimuli

Exploring Consumer Mobile Payment Adoption: A Multi-Country Study

The increasing popularity of mobile technologies is reshaping human activities including financial transactions. This research focuses on the use and acceptance of NFC-enabled proximity mobile payment (m-payment). This research builds on previous research highlighting the various factors influencing the use and acceptance of m-payment through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DoI). The results indicate a statistically significant relationship between compatibility, personal innovativeness, and behavioural intention to use m-payment. The findings of this study confirm the influence of external factors, i.e., compatibility and personal innovativeness, determines the end-users’ perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of m-payment which subsequently determines their attitude towards using m-payment and the intention to use m-payment