After the honeymoon: The Obama effect on political attitudes and participation

My dissertation takes a mixed-methods approach to investigating the possibility of a lasting Obama Effect on the political attitudes and behaviors of Obama supporters from 2008. Defining the Obama Effect as the extraordinary enthusiasm surrounding Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, I argue that a short term Obama Effect was clearly present in 2008 based on Obama’s electoral success, fundraising prowess, and ability to inspire volunteerism, as well as on the historic nature of his candidacy. But I ask, was it a lasting effect? My quantitative analyses—built upon panel survey data from the American National Election Studies—suggest little evidence of a lasting campaign effect that was positive and/or unique to Obama supporters. With regard to attitudes and behaviors such as political interest, political efficacy, or attendance of political events, Obama supporters often showed relative declines or stagnation over time when compared to nonsupporters or supporters of previous presidents. My qualitative analysis—based upon interviews with 30 former volunteers from the 2008 Obama campaign—does, however, indicated that the Obama Effect had a deep and lasting impact on his most enthusiastic support base, those who volunteered for his campaign. Many former Obama volunteers remained highly interested, civically engaged, and continually inspired as a result of their activism for the 2008 Obama campaign. In sum, I conclude that while that campaign may not have had its desired transformational effect on the broader American electorate, it did produce a positive and indeed a lasting impact on its most enthusiastic supporters

Evidence-based rehabilitation therapy following surgery for (peri-)articular fractures:A systematic review

Objective: To assess the availability of explicitly reported protocols describing post-surgery rehabilitation of (peri-) articular fractures of the proximal humerus, acetabulum and/or tibial plateau, and to critically review any scientific evidence on the effectiveness of these protocols. Data sources: MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane databases, CINAHL, PEDro and Embase (Ovid) were searched to November 2018. Furthermore, stakeholder internet sites, clinical guidelines and standard textbooks were searched. Study selection: Screening was performed independently by 2 researchers based on a priori defined eligibility criteria. Data synthesis: Five papers addressed post-surgical rehabilitation of proximal humerus fractures, one paper addressed acetabulum fractures. No eligible information was found on stakeholder sites or in standard textbooks. Overall, the main focus of the protocols identified was on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) "Body Functions and Structures" level. In general, little information about therapy dosage was reported. None of the protocols provided scientific evidence on which the content of described rehabilitation programmes was based. Conclusion: This review reveals a paucity of explicitly formulated protocols focussing on post-surgical rehabilitation of common (peri-) articular fractures targeting patient-centred care at all ICF levels. There is a need for more scientific evidence on which to base protocols regarding common (peri-) articular fracture rehabilitation

Laboratory Tests of a Motivational-Perceptual Model of Conflict Escalation

We present a model suggesting that international conflicts escalate to violence when countries (a) express higher levels of power motive imagery, (b) exaggerate levels of perceived power motive imagery in communications and statements from the “other” side, and (c) express still higher levels of power motive imagery as a result of such exaggerated perceptions. The model is supported by three studies. In the first two, participants wrote replies to one of two versions of the same letter taken from a real crisis. The third study explored conditions that affect the exaggerated perception of power motive imagery of the other side by asking participants to highlight the important points of a letter from a real crisis, under neutral conditions and under conditions arousing power motivation. The role of psychological variables in the escalation of conflicts to violence is discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67662/2/10.1177_0022002794038004007.pd

Sleep modulates the neural substrates of both spatial and contextual memory consolidation.

It is known that sleep reshapes the neural representations that subtend the memories acquired while navigating in a virtual environment. However, navigation is not process-pure, as manifold learning components contribute to performance, notably the spatial and contextual memory constituents. In this context, it remains unclear whether post-training sleep globally promotes consolidation of all of the memory components embedded in virtual navigation, or rather favors the development of specific representations. Here, we investigated the effect of post-training sleep on the neural substrates of the consolidation of spatial and contextual memories acquired while navigating in a complex 3D, naturalistic virtual town. Using fMRI, we mapped regional cerebral activity during various tasks designed to tap either the spatial or the contextual memory component, or both, 72 h after encoding with or without sleep deprivation during the first post-training night. Behavioral performance was not dependent upon post-training sleep deprivation, neither in a natural setting that engages both spatial and contextual memory processes nor when looking more specifically at each of these memory representations. At the neuronal level however, analyses that focused on contextual memory revealed distinct correlations between performance and neuronal activity in frontal areas associated with recollection processes after post-training sleep, and in the parahippocampal gyrus associated with familiarity processes in sleep-deprived participants. Likewise, efficient spatial memory was associated with posterior cortical activity after sleep whereas it correlated with parahippocampal/medial temporal activity after sleep deprivation. Finally, variations in place-finding efficiency in a natural setting encompassing spatial and contextual elements were associated with caudate activity after post-training sleep, suggesting the automation of navigation. These data indicate that post-training sleep modulates the neural substrates of the consolidation of both the spatial and contextual memories acquired during virtual navigation.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe