(Self-)evaluation of computer competence: how gender matters

Is the negative stereotype of women with regard to computer competence still exerting power in our society? In this study, 206 participants observed a target person (either a woman or a man) on a video who was about to solve a complex computer task. Participants had to estimate whether the target person was successful on this task in a limited amount of time. After they had received the information that the target person had solved the task successfully in the required time period, and that the person’s performance was above average, they were asked to provide a reason for the success (luck vs. skill attribution) and to evaluate the general computer competence of the target. Then, participants had to evaluate their own (hypothetical) computer competence in comparison to the target. Results suggest that for the direct evaluation of the target persons and for the causal attribution of success, no systematic gender-related biases occurred. In the self-ratings of participants; however, findings showed that (a) women judged their computer competence to be lower than did men, and (b) both women and men judged their own hypothetical performance in the computer-related task to be relatively higher when comparing it to the identically scripted performance of a woman vs. a man

"Doing and Viewing Gender" : a lens-model approach to the communicative construction of gender in task-oriented groups

Within the framework of the current gender research this dissertation focuses on applying a joint model and a corresponding method suited for integrating the many dispersed empirical studies on doing and viewing aspects of gender. An application of Brunswik’s lens-model (Brunswik, 1956) to communication research provides the basis for the development of a "performance and perception"-method that allows for an assessment of gender construction on a concrete and observation-based cue level. Additionally, this research contributes to the investigation of one of the most important applied questions of high societal relevance in gender research: why are there such few women in organizational leadership positions despite their high amount of professional qualification? A communication perspective to approach this question was chosen, focusing on verbal and nonverbal communication in task-oriented small groups. The research provides an overview of theoretical approaches within social psychology, a review of empirical literature, and a description of a series of six studies (N=391), conducted to approach the applied question and to test the new method of assessing gender construction processes. The research demonstrates the power of expectations over behavioral evidence of identical performance information (constructive effects). Results depended on the gender hypothesis and on real gender but also on the sex of the participant, sympathy, and other factors. In fact, gender hypothesis explained but a small amount of the variance of the overall findings and the magnitude of gender effects was generally small. Results of verbal and nonverbal cue analyses indicated that participants used semiotic cues differently, depending on their own gender, their gender-hypothesis and the concept in question. For example, in Study 1 women used more syntactic cues and men more pragmatic cues, while both used the same amount of semantic cues to infer gender of their chat mates. However, syntactic cues had the highest predictive value, followed by pragmatic cues, whereas semantic cues left participants at chance level of guessing gender correctly. In sum, cue analysis shed more light on communicative processes than the mere use of rating scales. Taken together, the research provides a useful framework and theory-based methodology for current empirical work, applying Brunswik’s lens model to gender communication research. The novelty of the empirical work lies in (a) the application of the performance and perception method in a CMC context, (b) the outline of and investigation into the new concept of "evaluative affect display" as a general indicator of approval or disapproval, and a specific indicator of prejudice toward female leaders, in small task-oriented groups, and (c) the use of dynamic interactional material within the Goldberg-paradigm, making the perceptual situation more realistic than by just using the previously employed written text materials. Both, gender-assumption and real gender of leaders had cognitive, expectational, and behavioral implications, but were not the only factors influencing performance and perception processes. Thus, gender construction processes are a highly context-sensitive phenomenon dependent on attributes of the perceiver, the target, and the respective degree of gender salience in a given situation. Applying Brunswik's lens-model to gender communication research generated a new method which allows to more specifically assess behavioral cues implied in gender communication

Women and computers: effects of stereotype threat on attribution of failure

This study investigated whether stereotype threat can influence women’s attributions of failure in a computer task. Male and female college-age students (n = 86, 16–21 years old) from Germany were asked to work on a computer task and were hinted beforehand that in this task, either (a) men usually perform better than women do (negative threat condition), or (b) women usually perform better than men do (positive condition), or (c) they received no threat or gender-related information (control group). The final part of the task was prepared to provide an experience of failure: due to a faulty USB-memory stick, completion of the task was not possible. Results suggest a stereotype threat effect on women’s attribution of failure: in the negative threat condition, women attributed the failure more internally (to their own inability), and men more externally (to the faulty technical equipment). In the positive and control conditions, no significant gender differences in attribution emerged

The Effect of Movement Therapy on Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia - A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: Negative symptoms of patients with Schizophrenia are resistant to medical treatment or conventional group therapy. Understanding schizophrenia as a form of disembodiment of the self, a number of scientists have argued that the approach of embodiment and associated embodied therapies, such as Dance and Movement Therapy (DMT) or Body Psychotherapy (BPT), may be more suitable to explain the psychopathology underlying the mental illness and to address its symptoms. Hence the present randomized controlled trial (DRKS00009828, http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/) aimed to examine the effectiveness of manualized movement therapy (BPT/DMT) on the negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia. Method:A total of 68 out-patients with a diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder were randomly allocated to either the treatment (n = 44, 20 sessions of BPT/DMT) or the control condition [n = 24, treatment as usual (TAU)]. Changes in negative symptom scores on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with Simpson-Angus Scale (SAS) scores as covariates in order to control for side effects of antipsychotic medication. Results:After 20 sessions of treatment (BPT/DMT or TAU), patients receiving movement therapy had significantly lower negative symptom scores (SANS total score, blunted affect, attention). Effect sizes were moderate and mean symptom reduction in the treatment group was 20.65%. Conclusion:The study demonstrates that embodied therapies, such as BPT/DMT, are highly effective in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Results strongly suggest that BPT/DMT should be embedded in the daily clinical routine

Intravitreal treatment in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration and visual acuity ≤ 0.05

Background: To investigate intravitreal treatment efficiencies in patients suffering from exudative ARMD with a BCVA ≤ 0.05. Methods: Retrospective analysis: Analysis parameters were lesion type, BCVA at baseline and at follow-up, the intravitreal drug used, and its application frequency. Patients were divided into: 1) following injections of bevacizumab, triamcinolone, their combination, or ranibizumab regardless of their lesion subtype, 2) or by lesion subtype. Statistical tests were performed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests and multivariable logistic regressions. Results: Seventy four eyes of 74 patients were analyzed. Follow-up was at 12.0 to 15.7 weeks. Median difference of BCVA (logMAR) between baseline and follow-up was 0.000 (−0.030, 0.175) in classic (p = 0.105), 0.000 (−1.15, 0.20) in occult (p = 0.005), −0.200 (−1.20, 0.60) in cases with subretinal fluid (p = 0.207), 0.000 (-0.60, 0.30) in pigment epithelial detachment (p = 0.813), and 0.050 (−0.40, 0.70) in Junius Kuhnt maculopathy (p = 0.344). BCVA increased ≥ 0.2 logMAR in 4 (24 %) classic, 9 (47 %) occult, 6 (33 %) pigment epithelial detachment, 6 (55 %) subretinal fluid, in 29 (39 %) eyes regardless of the lesion type, and reached a BCVA ≥ 0.05 in 7 (9 %) of those with a baseline BCVA <0.05. Conclusions: Results indicate that in patients with ARMD and a BCVA lower 0.05, intravitreal treatment may improve visual acuity, most probably in cases with occult lesions.<br

From Therapeutic Factors to Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies:A Scoping Review

Empirical studies in the creative arts therapies (CATs; i.e., art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, psychodrama, and poetry/bibliotherapy) have grown rapidly in the last 10 years, documenting their positive impact on a wide range of psychological and physiological outcomes (e.g., stress, trauma, depression, anxiety, and pain). However, it remains unclear how and why the CATs have positive effects, and which therapeutic factors account for these changes. Research that specifically focuses on the therapeutic factors and/or mechanisms of change in CATs is only beginning to emerge. To gain more insight into how and why the CATs influence outcomes, we conducted a scoping review (Nstudies = 67) to pinpoint therapeutic factors specific to each CATs discipline, joint factors of CATs, and more generic common factors across all psychotherapy approaches. This review therefore provides an overview of empirical CATs studies dealing with therapeutic factors and/or mechanisms of change, and a detailed analysis of these therapeutic factors which are grouped into domains. A framework of 19 domains of CATs therapeutic factors is proposed, of which the three domains are composed solely of factors unique to the CATs: “embodiment,” “concretization,” and “symbolism and metaphors.” The terminology used in change process research is clarified, and the implications for future research, clinical practice, and CATs education are discussed

Performance of international medical students in psychosocial medicine

Background: Particularly at the beginning of their studies, international medical students face a number of language-related, social and intercultural challenges. Thus, they perform poorer than their local counterparts in written and oral examinations as well as in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) in the fields of internal medicine and surgery. It is still unknown how international students perform in an OSCE in the field of psychosocial medicine compared to their local fellow students. Methods: All students (N = 1033) taking the OSCE in the field of psychosocial medicine and an accompanying written examination in their eighth or ninth semester between 2012 and 2015 were included in the analysis. The OSCE consisted of four different stations, in which students had to perform and manage a patient encounter with simulated patients suffering from 1) post-traumatic stress disorder, 2) schizophrenia, 3) borderline personality disorder and 4) either suicidal tendency or dementia. Students were evaluated by trained lecturers using global checklists assessing specific professional domains, namely building a relationship with the patient, conversational skills, anamnesis, as well as psychopathological findings and decision-making. Results: International medical students scored significantly poorer than their local peers (p < .001; η2 = .042). Within the specific professional domains assessed, they showed poorer scores, with differences in conversational skills showing the highest effect (p < .001; η2 = .053). No differences emerged within the multiple-choice examination (p = .127). Conclusion: International students showed poorer results in clinical-practical exams in the field of psychosocial medicine, with conversational skills yielding the poorest scores. However, regarding factual and practical knowledge examined via a multiple-choice test, no differences emerged between international and local students. These findings have decisive implications for relationship building in the doctor-patient relationship

In situ SAXS study on cationic and non-ionic surfactant liquid crystals using synchrotron radiation

In situ synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering was used to investigate various surfactant/water systems with hexagonal and lamellar structures regarding their structural behaviour upon heating and cooling. Measurements of the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-45 (polyethylene glycol 4-tert-octylphenyl ether) at different surfactant concentrations show an alignment of the lamellar liquid-crystalline structure close to the wall of the glass capillaries and also a decrease in d-spacing following subsequent heating/cooling cycles. Additionally, samples were subjected to a weak magnetic field (0.3-0.7 T) during heating and cooling, but no influence of the magnetic field was observed