The Santa Maria del Fiore Dome: Filippo Brunelleschi Construction Methods

Undergraduate Creative and Artisti

Cognitive Dissonance within the Realm of Implicit Bias

According to research professors from Harvard University, one’s individual actions will affect his fundamental preferences or beliefs. This is in compliance to cognitive dissonance theory, which posits that an “individual experiences a mental discomfort after taking an action that seems to be in conflict with his or her starting attitude” (Acharya, Blackwell, & Sen, p. 2) Individuals will then choose to subconsciously change their attitudes or beliefs to “conform more closely with their actions” (Acharya et al., p. 2). In other words, from a starting attitude, one makes the decision to engage in contradictory behavior, which results in a change of the initial attitude. In accordance with this illustration, researchers from Stanford and Harvard University, assert that one’s attitudes are “often the consequence of actions” (Acharya et al., p. 2). An individual’s actions may not reflect his initial fixed preference, but one is then able to adjust his attitude to justify his behaviors. Basically, cognitive dissonance theory helps support the idea that actions can dictate beliefs

A Phenomenology of the Practice of Music Therapy with Children

Music therapy has been demonstrated as an effective mode of therapeutic intervention for children in recent literature. There is extensive research suggesting benefits for various populations of children, namely: children in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), children who have experienced trauma, and children with disabilities. The current study served to address gaps found in the literature by conducting a phenomenology of professionally trained music therapists. Four board certified music therapists near major cities on the east coast were interviewed to comment on how they understand music therapy, and how they live out those understandings in their practice. It was found that music therapy is professional counseling, music therapy is goal based and individualized, and music therapy is often misunderstood in the general public. A comparison of these findings with results from previous studies was addressed. Limitations and suggestions for further study within the realm of utilizing music as a therapeutic tool were discussed

Jungles, Mayan Ruins, and More – Chiapas

Postcard from Shelby Reece, during the Linfield College Semester Abroad Program at the Instituto Cultural A.C. in Oaxaca, Mexic

Don\u27t Try This at Home: The FDA\u27s Restrictive Regulation of Home-Testing Devices

Over the past forty years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has successfully restricted consumers\u27 access to home-testing applications based on the notion that it should protect individuals from their own reactions to test results. In the 1970s, the FDA briefly denied women access to home pregnancy tests that were identical to those used in laboratories. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it relied on concerns about consumer responses to HIV status results to justify a categorical ban on applications for HIV home-testing technology. More recently, it placed burdensome restrictions on direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies, such as 23andMe, based on fears that consumers would make irrational medical decisions after receiving genetic variant results. Although the FDA has the statutory authority to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical devices, it has expansively interpreted the term safety to encompass considerations of how consumers might use test results provided by purely informative devices. This Note argues that courts should not give the FDA deference on its broad interpretation of safety in restricting home-testing devices. It documents the evolution of the expertise-based rationale for judicial deference, noting that courts typically provide scientific agencies, including the FDA, super deference because of the complicated nature of their work. Ultimately, courts should not defer to the FDA’s interpretation of safety because it did not use its scientific expertise when it considered how consumers might react to HIV home-testing and DTC genetic testing results. Further, the FDA should not have the authority to make decisions based on its view of safety because it should not have the power to make value judgments for consumers about whether they should seek their personal medical information

The effect of feedback at test on source memory performance

Previous research has demonstrated that witnesses can come to believe they saw details that were only suggested to them after the witnessed event. For both theoretical and practical reasons, there is interest in developing techniques that reduce the effect of misleading post-event information. The present study examined the effect of receiving feedback at the time of retrieval on eyewitness suggestibility. All participants watched a videotaped crime of a home burglary and then answered questions that contained misleading information. On a final source memory test, participants that were provided with feedback as to the accuracy of their attributions during the first part of the test, significantly reduced the number of source misattributions made on the second part of the test. Thus, feedback at retrieval appears to be a promising technique for reducing eyewitness memory errors