KULTUR: showcasing art through institutional repositories

Showcasing work has always been at the heart of the arts community, whether it be through an exhibition, site-specific installation or performance. Representation of the original work has also been important and use of print-based options like exhibition catalogues is now complemented by websites and multi-media friendly services like Flickr and YouTube and Vimeo. These services also provide options for sharing born-digital material. For those working in higher education there is a need to profile both the personal and the institutional aspects of creative outputs. The KULTUR project created a model for arts-based institutional repositories and it is hoped that this approach will be useful for other arts institutions

The self-practice of sport psychologists : Do they practice what they preach?

The maturation processes of applied sport psychologists have received little research attention despite trainees and practitioners having often reported experiencing challenging circumstances when working with clients. Within clinical psychology literature the self-practice of cognitive techniques, alongside self-reflection, has been advocated as a means of addressing such circumstances, and as a significant source of experiential learning. The present study sought to identify the possible types of, and purposes for, self-practice amongst twelve UK-based sport psychology practitioners. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews indicated all participants engaged in self-practice for reasons such as managing the self, enhancing understanding of intervention, and legitimising intervention. Some participants also described limitations to self-practice. Subsequently, three overriding themes emerged from analysis: a) the professional practise swamp, b) approaches to, and purposes for, self-practice, and, c) limitations of self-practice. It is concluded that self-practice may provide a means of better understanding self-as-person and self-as-practitioner, and the interplay between both, and is recommended as part of on-going practitioner maturationPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Parameterizing the microbial loop: an experiment in reducing model complexity

The structure of the plankton food web in the upper mixed layer has important implications for the export of biogenic material from the euphotic zone. While the action of the microbial loop causes material to be recycled near the surface, activity of the larger zooplankton leads to a significant downward flux of material. The balance between these pathways must be properly represented in climate models to predict carbon export. However, the number of biogeochemical compartments available to represent the food web is limited by the need to couple biogeochemical models with general circulation models. A structurally simple model is therefore sought, with a number of free parameters, which can be constrained by available observations to produce reliable estimates of export.A step towards addressing this aim is described: an attempt is made to emulate the behavior of an 11 compartment model with an explicit microbial loop, using a 4 compartment model. The latter, incorporating a basic microbial loop parameterization, is derived directly from the 'true' model. The results are compared with equivalent results for a 4 compartment model with no representation of the microbial loop. These non-identical twin experiments suggest that export estimates from 4 compartment models are prone to serious biases in regions where the action of the microbial loop is significant. The basic parameterization shows some promise in addressing the problem but a more sophisticated parameterization would be needed to produce reliable estimates. Some recommendations are made for future research

Attention, predictive learning, and the inverse base-rate effect: Evidence from event-related potentials

We report the first electrophysiological investigation of the inverse base-rate effect (IBRE), a robust non-rational bias in predictive learning. In the IBRE, participants learn that one pair of symptoms (AB) predicts a frequently occurring disease, whilst an overlapping pair of symptoms (AC) predicts a rarely occurring disease. Participants subsequently infer that BC predicts the rare disease, a non-rational decision made in opposition to the underlying base rates of the two diseases. Error-driven attention theories of learning state that the IBRE occurs because C attracts more attention than B. On the basis of this account we predicted and observed the occurrence of brain potentials associated with visual attention: a posterior Selection Negativity, and a concurrent anterior Selection Positivity, for C vs. B in a post-training test phase. Error-driven attention theories further predict no Selection Negativity, Selection Positivity or IBRE, for control symptoms matched on frequency to B and C, but for which there was no shared symptom (A) during training. These predictions were also confirmed, and this confirmation discounts alternative explanations of the IBRE based on the relative novelty of B and C. Further, we observed higher response accuracy for B alone than for C alone; this dissociation of response accuracy (B>C) from attentional allocation (C>B) discounts the possibility that the observed attentional difference was caused by the difference in response accuracy

A Preliminary Investigation into the Use of Humor in Sport Psychology Practice

‘Creative efforts’, such as the use of humor,have been found to be beneficial to the nurse-patient, teacher-student , and psychologist-patient alliance. Potentially humoruse might benefit the working alliance in applied sport psychology, yet to datethere is limited research. Sportpsychology consultants (n = 55) completedan online survey that explored humor use within their practice. Statisticalanalyses revealed most participants used humor for adaptive purposes such as tofacilitate the working alliance, reinforce knowledge, and create healthylearning environments. Therefore, possible client change is likely to befacilitated by practitioners’ personal qualities and skills such as humor useand humor style. Recommendations are made for sport psychology practitioners inrelation to humor use and further research.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

In the wake of the REF, LSE launches impact website to demonstrate how research can make a difference.

Love it or loathe it, impact is fast becoming the buzz word in UK academia. To coincide with the release of the REF2014 results on 18 December 2014, which will demonstrate how well (or otherwise) UK academia is creating impact from its research beyond the academy, LSE is joining the growing number of UK higher education institutions to showcase its own research impact via a new section of its website. Jo Hemmings in LSE’s Research Division explains why the School has created an impact website and what the School hopes to gain by this

Foreign investment in critical areas like nuclear power need a formal vetting process

The UK business and security communities should be brought together to hammer out the details, writes John Hemming

LSE research impact

As part of LSE Research Festival Exhibition 2015 the School’s Research Division will be hosting a special exhibit about the LSE Research Impact website. Visitors will have a chance to explore the new site and discover the full range of LSE’s world-leading social science research. We asked Jo Hemmings, Research Policy Manager for Research Division, to tell us something about the site and how members of the public can get the most out of using it

Reparations & Justice: Re-appraising imperialism

In this post for LSE International History, John Hemmings provides a thought-provoking analysis on the history of imperialism in India and its use in modern-day politics. He argues that concepts such as reparations and justice – a theme at a recent Oxford Union debate – must be addressed in a way that is itself just. Concepts such as reparations and justice must be addressed in a way that is not prejudiced against Western imperialism (“far imperialism”), in favour of “local imperialism”, which is often ignored in discourse and popular perception

Scottish independence would have a negative impact on security

All in all, Scottish independence would have negative consequences for UK standing and capabilities, for NATO nuclear deterrence and for the global and European balance of power, writes John Hemmings