Health locus of control in patients undergoing coronary artery surgery – changes and associated outcomes: a seven-year cohort study

Introduction: Health locus of control is a measure of an individual’s beliefs in factors that are thought to determine health experiences. Scores are generated and form a graduated linear scale from external to internal control, with respect to their views on health causality. Health locus of control has been considered to be a relatively stable entity. However, it is not clear if this status changes in the advent of serious health challenges, such as coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The aim of this study is to explore the variability of health locus of control and its association with postoperative health in this context. Methods: In a longitudinal cohort study of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery, a purposive sample (n=215) were recruited from the waiting list and followed up postoperatively, at approximately one year and seven years later. Results: Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery demonstrated marked fluctuations in health locus of control in their peri-operative and rehabilitative phases. Mean health locus of control became more external (often associated with poorer outcomes) peri-operatively, and more internal (generally associated with better health outcomes) in the rehabilitative period. Conclusions: Health locus of control scores were shown to be changeable during a major health care intervention, with possible consequences for patient outcomes and care needs. The significant health belief upheaval demonstrated in this cohort should be considered in assessing patients preoperatively, and managed as part of the patients’ clinical journey by both acute and rehabilitation staff. It is likely to have particular importance in individualised assessment and management of future prevention advice for patients

Communities of Risk, Identity, Youth and and Civil Disobedience: Parkour, Skateboarding, Skywalking as Rebellious Play

While contemporary literature champions the biological, psychological, and sociological benefits of play, the ability of play to represent civil disobedience is rarely examined. In short, there is limited literature on investigating the question - what does it mean to play as rebellion? This paper outlines the shared characteristics of three forms of play, parkour, skateboarding, and skywalking as rebellious activities. It is suggested that their shared characteristics and relationship to risk, authority, authenticity, and documented civil disobedience are core to the identity of disobedience. Using commercial video games based on real-world risky-play, the research illustrates how this play embraces civil disobedience. Each is about playing against authority. The paper offers an analysis of parkour-focused digital play, skateboarding video games, climbing games and a case study in the Storror parkour team and its streams, highlighting the intersection of literature from sports studies, game studies, social science and architecture within this domain

Discomfort Design: Critical Reflection through Uncomfortable Play

Consider that uncomfortable moment in life when people discover a playful experience ceases to be worth playing. Just as an arm is broken on the playground, or a relationship can no longer be mended, there are explicit moments when art transgresses some unforeseen territory leaving us with fear of its potential. This paper explores the potential of taboo game design

Critical Gameplay: Software Studies in Computer Gameplay

The computer game software with which we interact on a daily basis not only entertains us, it trains us into specific patterns. Critical Gameplay is a design practice which endeavors to expose and redesign the patterns to which standard gameplay subscribes. The ongoing project seeks to identify the dominant values, philosophies and problem solving models reinforced by computer games and provides prototypical alternates to those standards

Grounding Neuroscience in Behavioral Changes using Artificial Neural Networks

Connecting neural activity to function is a common aim in neuroscience. How to define and conceptualize function, however, can vary. Here I focus on grounding this goal in the specific question of how a given change in behavior is produced by a change in neural circuits or activity. Artificial neural network models offer a particularly fruitful format for tackling such questions because they use neural mechanisms to perform complex transformations and produce appropriate behavior. Therefore, they can be a means of causally testing the extent to which a neural change can be responsible for an experimentally observed behavioral change. Furthermore, because the field of interpretability in artificial intelligence has similar aims, neuroscientists can look to interpretability methods for new ways of identifying neural features that drive performance and behaviors.Comment: Final Accepted Manuscrip

Examining Misinformation and Disinformation Games Through Inoculation Theory and Transportation Theory

Media misinformation and disinformation continue to threaten the foundation on which scientific, political, and other socially relevant decisions are made. This paper examines games designed to serve as interventions for changing player’s behaviors in misinformation and disinformation media. It analyzes the games formally through two common communication intervention theories for behavior modification and education: inoculation theory and transportation theory. The media theories are first framed in the context of games generally, then they are applied across six research focused games ; Harmony Square, Bad News, Fake It To Make It, Factitious and FakeYou!. The work offers theory-informed observations and recommendations to support improved efficacy for existing and future playable media