Psychotic Diagnosis and Artist Pathology: Schizophrenic Art’s Influence on the Identification of the Disorder

The use of artwork created by schizophrenic individuals is unique in its contextual elements, including bizarre imagery, strong border lines, and desexualized features. The uniqueness of schizophrenic art lends itself to the possibility of being identified as such, therefore, opening the possibility for it to be used as a diagnostic tool in the clinical setting. Presently, schizophrenic art is used in art therapy, but is not widely employed in diagnostic practices. The current study aimed to test the possible identification of schizophrenic art in contrast to normal art and no art. Three questionnaires were created and randomly distributed to participants. The questionnaires included verbal descriptions of dissociative identity disorder, schizophrenia, and anti-social personality disorder. The participants were asked to identify schizophrenia when being told that the picture may or may not be helpful in their selection. After sampling 126 undergraduate students in an Introduction to Psychology course, the data was analyzed through a 2x3 and a 2x2 chi-square analysis. It was found that the presence of schizophrenic art significantly enhanced a verbal description of the disorder, thus, supporting the main hypothesis. Prior knowledge was also considered in the results; while the result was still significant, prior knowledge could not be ruled out as a predictor of correct identification. This research is a preliminary step into determining the diagnostic validity of schizophrenic art when identifying the disorder in individuals

Teaching Teachers To Think: Reflective Journaling As A Strategy To Enhance Students Understanding And Practice Of Academic Writing

The value of reflective journaling as an effective strategy to enhance learning has been explored by several writers. Many see it as a way of approaching learning to enhance the understanding of factors influencing or hindering the learning process and the development of meaning through critical thinking skills. The underlying purpose of the study is to explore the possibility of introducing the reflective journal into the teaching of academic writing as a strategy to improve students’ understanding of the different expository methods employed as part of the writing process

Seeing Relief: Mirror Box Therapy as a Treatment for Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome

In collaboration with an occupational therapist who works in a physical therapy private practice as a hand therapist, the following clinical questions were identified: Is mirror box therapy (MT) effective in reducing pain for patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS); secondary to orthopedic injury or peripheral nerve damage in the upper extremity (UE)? What protocols and dosages are the most effective? A structured review of the literature identified 18 studies that focus on the use of MT for CRPS of the UE: one meta-analysis of systematic reviews, five systematic reviews (SR) and 12 individual studies of which four are not reviewed in the SRs. Research regarding the use of MT for CRPS shows positive effects on outcomes for pain reduction with CRPS Type I, both acute and chronic, and emerging evidence for increased functional use, sensation and decreased swelling. However, currently, evidence is considered of low quality due to small sample sizes and replication by the same research group. Protocols are highly variable and sometimes vague, but the most commonly researched protocol has been L. Moseley’s graded motor imagery (GMI) program. The following knowledge translation products were selected in collaboration with the clinician: an in-service for clinicians and educational pamphlet for consumers. The clinician expressed satisfaction with the pamphlet and regret that we could not schedule the in-service. Further research evaluating the effectiveness of the different protocols and dosages available is recommended, as well as describing the experiences of both the clients and clinicians utilizing MT

Academic Writing Within An Online Learning Environment: Assessing The Impact Of Peer Evaluation On Lesson Planning, Execution & Assessment

Peer evaluation, as a learning strategy, is commonly used among educators in an attempt to promote higher performance goals and improved teaching and learning outcomes through the sharing of complementary proficiencies for a familiar intent. It is commonly viewed as a technique for raising the bar' through exposing educators to alternative perspectives. Within the online learning environment, there is a high degree of isolation among educators involved in the delivery of the same course. Although individuals interact in established teacher forums about administrative issues, a forum is not provided where interaction about teaching content, delivery and conceptualization of critical concepts can be explored and discussed. As such, the provision of a forum for collaboration among peers involved in different aspects of course delivery within the online learning environment is believed to address the issue of isolated instruction while also providing support and evaluation as to the effectiveness of teaching strategies employed. The aim of the research is to investigate the impact of an established peer partnership between 14 colleagues working in pairs geared towards assessing feedback and discussions on lesson planning, execution and assessment processes. It seeks to ascertain its usefulness as a strategy to be incorporated into the teaching of English for Academic Purposes within an online learning environment. The study seeks to provide actionable direction for peer evaluation and collaboration, as a teaching and learning tool, through the mapping, assessing and evaluation of the processes involved

Identity Politics and Global Citizenship in Elite Athletics: Comparing Caster Semenya and Oscar Pistorius

At the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, Team South Africa filed behind its respective flag-bearers, track-and-field stars Caster Semenya and Oscar Pistorius. While both athletes were mired in controversy at various points in their careers, each athlete's selection as South Africa's official flag bearer reaffirmed to the team, and indicated to the international spectator community, that each of the athletes had proven themselves "ideal" to represent the nation of South Africa on the world stage.The act of naming an athlete to be a country's official flag bearer is one of many instances at mega sporting events like the Olympics and World Championships where the notion of global citizenship is at play. In the context of globalization and the Olympic games, where competition between nations is extended into the arena of sport, Olympians are heralded as the ultimate global citizens, representing both the competitive individual and the competitive state. Bridging fields of globalization, citizenship, and sporting events, the Olympic Games are a mega-event upon which highly politicized notions of race, class, sex, gender, and geographical location intersect (see Toohey 2007).How is citizenship publically negotiated, learned, regulated, and performed through the mega-event of the Olympic Games? In this comparative feminist media analysis of the cases of Caster Semenya and Oscar Pistorius, we map the ways in which categories of identity, including race, gender, and class, are mobilized in discussion of these athletes as more-or-less deserving Olympic athlete-citizens

Alternative Positions on Crime and Criminality: An Examination of Perspective from the Margins

The study presents a case for expanding discussions about crime to include ideological variances, circumstances and societal contexts. A content analysis approach was used to interpret civilian interviews reflecting the problematic acceptance of crime as an understood construct and to highlight the need for recognition of interpretative diversities. The study analyses civilians’ perspectives that are critical to an understanding of how they view crime, and outlines the possible impact of such understandings on their relations with police officers. The article presents a case for the consideration of alternative understandings of crime, which contradict state delineation, and for reflection on the potential impact of these interpretations on enhancing the interface between police officers and civilians

Predictors of Homeless Services Re-Entry within a Sample of Adults Receiving Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) Assistance

Local and national evaluations of the federal Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) have demonstrated a high rate of placement of program participants in permanent housing. However, there is a paucity of research on the long-term outcomes of HPRP, and research on rehousing and prevention interventions for single adults experiencing homelessness is particularly limited. Using Homeless Management Information System data from 2009 to 2015, this study examined risk of return to homeless services among 370 permanently housed and 71 nonpermanently housed single adult HPRP participants in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were conducted to analyze time-to-service re-entry for the full sample, and the homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing participants separately. With an average follow-up of 4.5 years after HPRP exit, 9.5% of the permanently housed HPRP participants and 16.9% of those nonpermanently housed returned to homeless services. By assistance type, 5.4% of permanently housed and 15.8% of nonpermanently housed homelessness prevention recipients re-entered services, and 12.8% of permanently housed and 18.2% of nonpermanently housed rapid rehousing recipients re-entered during the follow-up period. Overall, veterans, individuals receiving rapid rehousing services, and those whose income did not increase during HPRP had significantly greater risk of returning to homeless services. Veterans were at significantly greater risk of re-entry when prevention and rehousing were examined separately. Findings suggest a need for future controlled studies of prevention and rehousing interventions for single adults, aiming to identify unique service needs among veterans and those currently experiencing homelessness in need of rehousing to inform program refinement

The hazards of perception : evaluating a change blindness demonstration within a real-world driver education course

Overconfidence in one’s driving ability can lead to risky decision-making and may therefore increase the accident risk. When educating people about the risks of their driving behavior, it is all too easy for individuals to assume that the message is not meant for them and so can be ignored. In this study we developed and assessed the effect of a road safety demonstration based around the phenomenon of change blindness within a real-world Driver Awareness Course. We collected quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate the effectiveness of the demonstration in both a police-led environment (Experiment 1) and a laboratory environment (Experiment 2). We also compared the change blindness intervention to two control tasks. The results showed that participants’ self-reported ability to spot important visual changes was reduced after the change blindness demonstration in both experiments, but was not reduced after participation in the control tasks of Experiment 2. Furthermore, participants described the change blindness demonstrations positively and would recommend that they were shown more widely