Psychological principles of successful aging technologies: A mini-review

Based on resource-oriented conceptions of successful life-span development, we propose three principles for evaluating assistive technology: (a) net resource release; (b) person specificity, and (c) proximal versus distal frames of evaluation. We discuss how these general principles can aid the design and evaluation of assistive technology in adulthood and old age, and propose two technological strategies, one targeting sensorimotor and the other cognitive functioning. The sensorimotor strategy aims at releasing cognitive resources such as attention and working memory by reducing the cognitive demands of sensory or sensorimotor aspects of performance. The cognitive strategy attempts to provide adaptive and individualized cuing structures orienting the individual in time and space by providing prompts that connect properties of the environment to the individual's action goals. We argue that intelligent assistive technology continuously adjusts the balance between `environmental support' and `self-initiated processing' in person-specific and aging-sensitive ways, leading to enhanced allocation of cognitive resources. Furthermore, intelligent assistive technology may foster the generation of formerly latent cognitive resources by activating developmental reserves (plasticity). We conclude that `lifespan technology', if co-constructed by behavioral scientists, engineers, and aging individuals, offers great promise for improving both the transition from middle adulthood to old age and the degree of autonomy in old age in present and future generations. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Effects of attention and perceptual uncertainty on cerebellar activity during visual motion perception

Recent clinical and neuroimaging studies have revealed that the human cerebellum plays a role in visual motion perception, but the nature of its contribution to this function is not understood. Some reports suggest that the cerebellum might facilitate motion perception by aiding attentive tracking of visual objects. Others have identified a particular role for the cerebellum in discriminating motion signals in perceptually uncertain conditions. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine the degree to which cerebellar involvement in visual motion perception can be explained by a role in sustained attentive tracking of moving stimuli in contrast to a role in visual motion discrimination. While holding the visual displays constant, we manipulated attention by having participants attend covertly to a field of random-dot motion or a colored spot at fixation. Perceptual uncertainty was manipulated by varying the percentage of signal dots contained within the random-dot arrays. We found that attention to motion under high perceptual uncertainty was associated with strong activity in left cerebellar lobules VI and VII. By contrast, attending to motion under low perceptual uncertainty did not cause differential activation in the cerebellum. We found no evidence to support the suggestion that the cerebellum is involved in simple attentive tracking of salient moving objects. Instead, our results indicate that specific subregions of the cerebellum are involved in facilitating the detection and discrimination of task-relevant moving objects under conditions of high perceptual uncertainty. We conclude that the cerebellum aids motion perception under conditions of high perceptual demand

The breadth of primary care: a systematic literature review of its core dimensions

Background: Even though there is general agreement that primary care is the linchpin of effective health care delivery, to date no efforts have been made to systematically review the scientific evidence supporting this supposition. The aim of this study was to examine the breadth of primary care by identifying its core dimensions and to assess the evidence for their interrelations and their relevance to outcomes at (primary) health system level. Methods: A systematic review of the primary care literature was carried out, restricted to English language journals reporting original research or systematic reviews. Studies published between 2003 and July 2008 were searched in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, King's Fund Database, IDEAS Database, and EconLit. Results: Eighty-five studies were identified. This review was able to provide insight in the complexity of primary care as a multidimensional system, by identifying ten core dimensions that constitute a primary care system. The structure of a primary care system consists of three dimensions: 1. governance; 2. economic conditions; and 3. workforce development. The primary care process is determined by four dimensions: 4. access; 5. continuity of care; 6. coordination of care; and 7. comprehensiveness of care. The outcome of a primary care system includes three dimensions: 8. quality of care; 9. efficiency care; and 10. equity in health. There is a considerable evidence base showing that primary care contributes through its dimensions to overall health system performance and health. Conclusions: A primary care system can be defined and approached as a multidimensional system contributing to overall health system performance and health

Facial expressions depicting compassionate and critical emotions: the development and validation of a new emotional face stimulus set

Attachment with altruistic others requires the ability to appropriately process affiliative and kind facial cues. Yet there is no stimulus set available to investigate such processes. Here, we developed a stimulus set depicting compassionate and critical facial expressions, and validated its effectiveness using well-established visual-probe methodology. In Study 1, 62 participants rated photographs of actors displaying compassionate/kind and critical faces on strength of emotion type. This produced a new stimulus set based on N = 31 actors, whose facial expressions were reliably distinguished as compassionate, critical and neutral. In Study 2, 70 participants completed a visual-probe task measuring attentional orientation to critical and compassionate/kind faces. This revealed that participants lower in self-criticism demonstrated enhanced attention to compassionate/kind faces whereas those higher in self-criticism showed no bias. To sum, the new stimulus set produced interpretable findings using visual-probe methodology and is the first to include higher order, complex positive affect displays

Boundaries of Semantic Distraction: Dominance and Lexicality Act at Retrieval

Three experiments investigated memory for semantic information with the goal of determining boundary conditions for the manifestation of semantic auditory distraction. Irrelevant speech disrupted the free recall of semantic category-exemplars to an equal degree regardless of whether the speech coincided with presentation or test phases of the task (Experiment 1) and occurred regardless of whether it comprised random words or coherent sentences (Experiment 2). The effects of background speech were greater when the irrelevant speech was semantically related to the to-be-remembered material, but only when the irrelevant words were high in output dominance (Experiment 3). The implications of these findings in relation to the processing of task material and the processing of background speech is discussed

Task-Selective Memory Effects for Successfully Implemented Encoding Strategies

Previous behavioral evidence suggests that instructed strategy use benefits associative memory formation in paired associate tasks. Two such effective encoding strategies–visual imagery and sentence generation–facilitate memory through the production of different types of mediators (e.g., mental images and sentences). Neuroimaging evidence suggests that regions of the brain support memory reflecting the mental operations engaged at the time of study. That work, however, has not taken into account self-reported encoding task success (i.e., whether participants successfully generated a mediator). It is unknown, therefore, whether task-selective memory effects specific to each strategy might be found when encoding strategies are successfully implemented. In this experiment, participants studied pairs of abstract nouns under either visual imagery or sentence generation encoding instructions. At the time of study, participants reported their success at generating a mediator. Outside of the scanner, participants further reported the quality of the generated mediator (e.g., images, sentences) for each word pair. We observed task-selective memory effects for visual imagery in the left middle occipital gyrus, the left precuneus, and the lingual gyrus. No such task-selective effects were observed for sentence generation. Intriguingly, activity at the time of study in the left precuneus was modulated by the self-reported quality (vividness) of the generated mental images with greater activity for trials given higher ratings of quality. These data suggest that regions of the brain support memory in accord with the encoding operations engaged at the time of study

Exploring earned value management in the Spanish construction industry as a pathway to competitive advantage

[EN] As a well established discipline and profession, project management has its distinctive tools and techniques. One of them that has been considered the embodiment of the core principles of project management is the Earned Value Management (EVM). In managing construction projects, the EVM has been considered as a suitable tool and hence, has been implemented in various construction industry but absent in some others. Taking into account the dynamic environment where construction companies have to operate, particularly in turbulence environments as the direct result of recent global economic downturn, this paper explores the potential implementation of EVM in one of the construction industry, the Spanish construction industry. The outcomes confirm the needs for and feasibility of implementing EVM as a structured approach in the industry to reposition the Spanish construction industry with the long term view to increase its project management maturity level as a pathway to gaining competitive advantage.Universitat Politecnica de Valencia [grant number 19701344]Sutrisna, M.; Pellicer, E.; Torres-Machí, C.; Picornell, M. (2018). Exploring earned value management in the Spanish construction industry as a pathway to competitive advantage. International Journal of Construction Management. 20(1):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2018.1459155S112201Anbari, F. T. (2004). Earned value project management method and extensions. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 32(3), 97-97. doi:10.1109/emr.2004.25113Aram, J. D., & Walochik, K. (1996). Improvisation and the Spanish Manager. International Studies of Management & Organization, 26(4), 73-89. doi:10.1080/00208825.1996.11656695Brandon, D. M. (1998). Implementing Earned Value Easily and Effectively. Project Management Journal, 29(2), 11-18. doi:10.1177/875697289802900204Brown, A., & Adams, J. (2000). Measuring the effect of project management on construction outputs: a new approach. International Journal of Project Management, 18(5), 327-335. doi:10.1016/s0263-7863(99)00026-5Bryde, D. J. (2003). Modelling project management performance. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 20(2), 229-254. doi:10.1108/02656710310456635Chen, H. L., Chen, W. T., & Lin, Y. L. (2016). Earned value project management: Improving the predictive power of planned value. International Journal of Project Management, 34(1), 22-29. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2015.09.008De la Cruz, M. P., del Caño, A., & de la Cruz, E. (2006). Downside Risks in Construction Projects Developed by the Civil Service: The Case of Spain. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 132(8), 844-852. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9364(2006)132:8(844)Din, S., Abd-Hamid, Z., & Bryde, D. J. (2011). ISO 9000 certification and construction project performance: The Malaysian experience. International Journal of Project Management, 29(8), 1044-1056. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2010.11.001Eldin, N. N. (1989). Measurement of Work Progress: Quantitative Technique. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 115(3), 462-474. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9364(1989)115:3(462)Gidado, K. I. (1996). Project complexity: The focal point of construction production planning. Construction Management and Economics, 14(3), 213-225. doi:10.1080/014461996373476Hastak, M., Halpin, D. W., & Vanegas, J. (1996). COMPASS—New Paradigm for Project Cost Control Strategy and Planning. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 122(3), 254-264. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9364(1996)122:3(254)D. Holt, G., & S. Goulding, J. (2014). Conceptualisation of ambiguous-mixed-methods within building and construction research. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 12(2), 244-262. doi:10.1108/jedt-02-2013-0020Ibbs, C. W., & Kwak, Y. H. (2000). Assessing Project Management Maturity. Project Management Journal, 31(1), 32-43. doi:10.1177/875697280003100106Jugdev, K., & Thomas, J. (2002). 2002 Student Paper Award Winner: Project Management Maturity Models: The Silver Bullets of Competitive Advantage? Project Management Journal, 33(4), 4-14. doi:10.1177/875697280203300402Kim, E., Wells, W. G., & Duffey, M. R. (2003). A model for effective implementation of Earned Value Management methodology. International Journal of Project Management, 21(5), 375-382. doi:10.1016/s0263-7863(02)00049-2Kim, T., Kim, Y.-W., & Cho, H. (2016). Customer Earned Value: Performance Indicator from Flow and Value Generation View. Journal of Management in Engineering, 32(1), 04015017. doi:10.1061/(asce)me.1943-5479.0000377Laufer, A., & Tucker, R. L. (1987). Is construction project planning really doing its job? A critical examination of focus, role and process. Construction Management and Economics, 5(3), 243-266. doi:10.1080/01446198700000023Liberatore, M. J., Pollack-Johnson, B., & Smith, C. A. (2001). Project Management in Construction: Software Use and Research Directions. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 127(2), 101-107. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9364(2001)127:2(101)Mir, F. A., & Pinnington, A. H. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: Linking Project Management Performance and Project Success. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), 202-217. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2013.05.012Navon, R., & Haskaya, I. (2006). Is detailed progress monitoring possible without designated manual data collection? Construction Management and Economics, 24(12), 1225-1229. doi:10.1080/01446190600999097Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Leech, N. L. (2005). Taking the «Q» Out of Research: Teaching Research Methodology Courses Without the Divide Between Quantitative and Qualitative Paradigms. Quality & Quantity, 39(3), 267-295. doi:10.1007/s11135-004-1670-0Oviedo-Haito, R. J., Jiménez, J., Cardoso, F. F., & Pellicer, E. (2014). Survival Factors for Subcontractors in Economic Downturns. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(3), 04013056. doi:10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0000811Pellicer, E., Sanz, M. A., Esmaeili, B., & Molenaar, K. R. (2016). Exploration of Team Integration in Spanish Multifamily Residential Building Construction. Journal of Management in Engineering, 32(5), 05016012. doi:10.1061/(asce)me.1943-5479.0000438Potts, K., & Ankrah, N. (2008). Construction Cost Management. doi:10.4324/9780203933015Vanhoucke, M. (2012). Project Management with Dynamic Scheduling. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-25175-7Yazici, H. J. (2009). The Role of Project Management Maturity and Organizational Culture in Perceived Performance. Project Management Journal, 40(3), 14-33. doi:10.1002/pmj.20121Yu, A. G., Flett, P. D., & Bowers, J. A. (2005). Developing a value-centred proposal for assessing project success. International Journal of Project Management, 23(6), 428-436. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2005.01.00

The Sleeping Brain's Influence on Verbal Memory: Boosting Resistance to Interference

Memories evolve. After learning something new, the brain initiates a complex set of post-learning processing that facilitates recall (i.e., consolidation). Evidence points to sleep as one of the determinants of that change. But whenever a behavioral study of episodic memory shows a benefit of sleep, critics assert that sleep only leads to a temporary shelter from the damaging effects of interference that would otherwise accrue during wakefulness. To evaluate the potentially active role of sleep for verbal memory, we compared memory recall after sleep, with and without interference before testing. We demonstrated that recall performance for verbal memory was greater after sleep than after wakefulness. And when using interference testing, that difference was even more pronounced. By introducing interference after sleep, this study confirms an experimental paradigm that demonstrates the active role of sleep in consolidating memory, and unmasks the large magnitude of that benefit