Skiing and its Discontents: Assessing the Turist Experience from a Psychoanalytical,a Neuroscientific and a Sport Philosophical Perspective

Abstract

This article addresses the question whether skiing as a nature sport enables practitioners to develop a rapport with nature, or rather estranges and insulates them from their mountainous ambiance. To address this question, I analyse a recent skiing movie (Turist, 2014) from a psychoanalytical perspective (skiing as a quest for self-knowledge and as therapy) and from a neuro-scientific perspective (ski resorts as laboratory settings for testing physical and psychic responses to a variety of cues). I conclude that Jean-Paul Sartre’s classical but egocentric account of his skiing experiences disavows the technicity involved in contemporary skiing as a sportive practice for the affluent masses, which actually represents an urbanisation of the sublime, symptomatic for the current era (the anthropocene).     

Nonverbal communication during the learner lesson with a professional driving instructor: A novel investigation

BackgroundFundamental for the development of the driving and road use skills of the young driver is learning to drive through driving instruction and, in graduated driver licensing programs such as in Australia, driving supervision. In Queensland young drivers are required to log a minimum of 100 h supervised practice, with recent research revealing that parents provide most of this supervision. Queensland also offers young drivers a 10-h 3-for-1 bonus for professional driving instruction, such that one hour of professional instruction can be logged as three hours of practice, to a maximum of 30 logbook hours. Recent research efforts have begun to provide insight into the nature of the verbal instruction of both parents and professional instructors, and into the nonverbal communication between parents and learners. However nothing is known regarding the nonverbal communication between professional instructors and learners.MethodTen learner lessons (five male learners) with four professional instructors (four males) were captured via GoPro cameras. The nonverbal communication during the first, middle, and last 10 min of each lesson was coded as being posture and body orientation, gestures, facial expressions, proximity, humour, and eye contact, within the context of the accompanying verbal communication according to the value of (a) eager, or (b) cautious; the valence of (a) neutral, (b) positive, or (c) negative; and the purpose of (a) rapport, or (b) communication.ResultsOverall, posture and body orientation was the most common mechanism of nonverbal communication, while facial expressions and proximity were the least common mechanisms of nonverbal communication. In general the beginning, the middle, and the end of the lessons were characterised by a plethora of neutral, cautious interactions, and positive, eager interactions. However it is noteworthy that the rates at which learners and instructors engaged in these behaviours were found to change across the lesson. Specifically learners actively communication nonverbally through mechanisms such as eye contact, facial expressions and humour, while instructors appeared to manage building rapport and communicating safe vehicle and road use through nonverbal communication such as gestures, facial expressions and posture and body orientation, summarised in a model comprising a continuum of instruction.DiscussionWhile nonverbal communication is fundamental for effective verbal communication, and on occasion can replace verbal communication, and as such the professional – and the parental – driving lesson should optimise the use of nonverbal communication, at this time the optimal nature of nonverbal communication remains unknown. In addition, optimal verbal and nonverbal communication specifically suited to the driving context which involves a dynamic environment outside the vehicle, and at times a dynamic environment inside the vehicle, remains yet to be identified. The research findings provide unique insight into the nature of the nonverbal communication used by both learner drivers and professional driving instructors, in addition to the continuum of instruction model. As such, the findings provide a solid foundation for future research into, and guidance regarding, optimising the learner driving lesson.     

Ascription of Maturity to Human Figure Drawings by Preschool Children

Summary

Forty-five preschool children, shown outline human figure drawings (all arbitrarily drawn to the same stature) whose overall body proportions were typical of individuals aged 0, 2, 6, 12, and 25 years, generally distinguished more maturely from less maturely proportioned figures, the absence of nonproportion cues to maturity notwithstanding. This is noteworthy, since agerelated changes in stature and in proportion are confounded in nature, and since our culture emphasizes stature cues and neglects proportion cues to maturity. Although Ss generally distinguished more mature from less mature figures on the basis of body proportions, the proportions of immature individuals nonetheless tended to be assimilated to those of the mature individual.     

Skill differences in visual anticipation of type of throw in team-handball penalties

ObjectivesVisual identification and anticipation of an opponent's action intentions is crucial for successful performance in interactive situations such as team-handball penalties. We conducted two experiments to examine experienced and novice team-handball goalkeepers' ability to predict the type of throw in handball penalties and to identify the observers' reliance on local versus globally distributed spatial cues.Design and methodsIn Experiment 1, following a 2 (Skill) × 5 (Temporal Occlusion Condition) factorial design participants were provided with videos of team-handball penalties where the amount of viewing time was varied. In Experiment 2, another sample of experienced and novice goalkeepers watched videos of spatially manipulated penalties where specific parts of the thrower's body or the ball were either removed or presented in isolation (2 [Skill] × 9 [Display Condition] factorial design).ResultsIn Experiment 1, experienced goalkeepers outperformed novices and both groups similarly improved their performances with later occlusion conditions. In Experiment 2, experienced goalkeepers were again superior to novices, and local cues (e.g., ball and hand) were sufficient for better than chance predictions in both groups. Moreover, experienced in contrast to novice goalkeepers (i) suffered from the removal of and (ii) benefited from the addition of distal (i.e., throwing arm and ball) as well as proximal (i.e., upper body) kinematic features.ConclusionsOur research is in line with previous findings on perceptual-cognitive expertise in sports and suggests that experienced team-handball goalkeepers rely on multiple, globally distributed cues when making anticipatory judgments.     

A structural equation model of intuitive eating with adolescents

IntroductionThe tendency to eat by paying attention and respecting the body's hunger and satiety cues is called intuitive eating. This eating behavior has been linked to positive health and well-being outcomes.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to test a global model linking intuitive eating with self-esteem, body esteem, media influence and including fear of negative appearance evaluation in adolescents’ boys and girls.MethodIn total, 740 adolescent high school students (51.5% girls; M age = 14, SD = 1.5) completed self-report questionnaires with measures of intuitive eating, body esteem, self-esteem, media influence and fear of negative appearance evaluation.ResultsStructural equation modeling revealed an overall excellent fit for the final four-variable model excluding the fear of negative appearance evaluation variable. Mediation analyses showed an indirect relationship between intuitive eating and body esteem via media influence, for girls but not for boys. Body esteem mediated the relationship between intuitive eating and self-esteem, for girls and boys.ConclusionA new model is proposed where intuitive eating is associated with self-esteem through body esteem and media influence. These findings suggest that regulating attitudes and behaviors toward food may be related to higher psychological well-being.     

Selling behaviours and sales performance: the moderating and mediating effects of interpersonal mentalizing

A random sample of independent insurance agents was surveyed to explore the relationships among learned behaviours, such as, adaptive selling and customer orientation and personal dispositions, such as, interpersonal mentalizing in predicting sales performance. The primary focus of this research was to reexamine salespeople's theory of mind in a broader theoretical base of human abilities. The results confirmed that the dimensions of interpersonal mentalizing, such as, taking a bird's-eye view, shaping the interaction by creating a positive ambience, detecting nonverbal cues and rapport building have different roles for the effectiveness of selling behaviours. While taking a bird's-eye view was a moderator, creating a positive ambience was a mediator of the relationship between selling behaviours and performance. Furthermore, salespeople's ability to build rapport improved sales performance only when they were able to detect nonverbal cues from customers. Taken together, these findings shed light on the complementary role of autonomous abilities of salespeople in improving the productivity of their learned selling behaviours. Several managerial implications were derived from the findings.     

Memory retrieval in treating adult survivors of sexual abuse

Abstract

Therapists working with adult survivors of sexual abuse must be sensitive to the powerful ambivalence such clients have toward addressing their victimization. They fear experiencing the significant emotional turmoil which occurs in therapy and the powerful loyalty conflicts they encounter in their families-of-origin. Establishing rapport and allowing clients to set the pace for disclosing and addressing their abuse are critical components of the therapy process. The authors describe effective Ericksonian approaches for establishing these critical treatment elements. Ericksonian techniques for utilizing the client's internal resources and retrieving repressed memories are also discussed, followed by case examples illustrating specific hypnotic methods.     

Identifying the Distress Cues that Influence Support Provision: A Paired Comparison Approach

ABSTRACT

Just as chemistry has methods for determining the composition of unknown substances, psychology needs, but has lacked, effective methods for identifying the “active ingredients” of social stimuli. We describe such a method and apply it to identify the verbal and nonverbal distress cues that serve as signals prompting others to provide social support. This method allowed us to identify 55 such cues. Furthermore, the cues that were salient in the minds of potential support providers depended on their goals. For example, when deciding whether someone needed support, negative nonverbal cues (e.g., distressed persons' fidgeting) were more salient, but when deciding whether one was willing to provide support, cues that suggested a positive outcome for the support seeker (e.g., distressed persons' positive attitude and open-mindedness) were more salient.     

Size and orientation cue figure-ground segregation in infants

ABSTRACT

Adult perceivers segregate figure from ground based on image cues such as small size and main axis orientation. The current study examined whether infants can use such cues to perceive figure-ground segregation. Three- to 7-month-olds were familiarized with a pie-shaped stimulus in which some pieces formed a?+?and other pieces formed an x. The infants were then presented with a novelty preference test pairing the?+?and x. The bases for the pieces forming the?+?or x were size and orientation (Experiment 1), size (Experiment 2), and orientation (Experiment 3). In each experiment, infants responded as if they recognized as familiar the shape specified by small size, main axis orientation, or their combination. Control conditions showed that infant performance could not be attributed to spontaneous preference. The findings suggest that infants can achieve figure-ground segregation based on some of the same cues used by adults.     

The rhythm of rapport: Interpersonal synchrony and social perception

The temporal coordination of behavior during dyadic interactions is a foundation for effective social exchange with synchronized actions enhancing perceptions of rapport and interpersonal connectedness. What has yet to be established, however, are the precise characteristics of behavioral coordination that give rise to such effects. Informed by a dynamical systems approach, the current investigation considered whether judgments of rapport are influenced by the mode of interpersonal synchrony. In two experiments, participants rated the degree of rapport manifest by a simulated pair of walkers exhibiting various configurations of synchronized strides. The results revealed that the highest levels of rapport were associated with the most stable forms of interpersonal coordination (i.e., in-phase and anti-phase synchrony), regardless of whether coordination between the walkers was conveyed via the presentation of visual (Expt. 1a) or auditory (Expt. 1b) cues. These findings underscore the importance of interpersonal coordination to core aspects of social perception.     

The effects of rapport‐building style on children's reports of a staged event

Three‐ to nine‐year‐old children (n=144) interacted with a photographer and were interviewed about the event either a week or a month later. The informativeness and accuracy of information provided following either open‐ended or direct rapport building were compared. Children in the open‐ended rapport‐building condition provided more accurate reports than children in the direct rapport‐building condition after both short and long delays. Open‐ended rapport‐building led the three‐ to four‐year‐olds to report more errors in response to the first recall question about the event, but they went on to provide more accurate reports in the rest of the interview than counterparts in the direct rapport‐building condition. These results suggest that forensic interviewers should attempt to establish rapport with children using an open‐ended style. Published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conjoint marital therapy to enhance anger management and reduce spouse abuse

Abstract

This paper describes a treatment program for couples who mishandle anger and/or are physically abusive. Based on a social learning conception of marital aggression, the treatment endorses the elimination of demonstrations of anger in abusive couples and elaborates upon ways to identify preliminary anger cues, to establish a ground rule that abusiveness is unacceptable, to develop alternative responses that interrupt conflict patterns, and to modify faulty relationship assumptions. Methods to improve couples' problem-solving skills and to enhance their overall enjoyment of the relationship are also proposed as important supplements to the training in anger management skills.     

Age,context, and spatial memory: A neuropsychological approach

Abstract

The hypothesis that a reduction in age differences in spatial location memory in the presence of distinctive cues reflects a decreased dependence on a hippocampally based memory system was tested in three experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2 the presence of distinctive cues did not reduce age differences in spatial location memory nor did these cues eliminate the significant relation between spatial location memory and a measure of hippocampal function. Distinctive cues did, however, place additional demands on processing resources and spatial visualization abilities. In Experiment 3 the relevance of prior knowledge was manipulated. With irrelevant prior knowledge there was a strong unique association between the hippocampal measure and outcome measure. With relevant prior knowledge there was no such association. the implications of these findings for understanding the role of the hippocampus in age-related decline in memory for locations are discussed.     

From Theory to Practice

Abstract

Beginning counselors are often eager to incorporate expressive techniques in their counseling sessions. However, there is still some disconnect between student counselors studying an experiential technique in coursework and supervision, and then executing these activities while conducting a counseling session. The following article provides a rationale for teaching expressive techniques and explores a previously developed model for teaching supervisees. An experiential activity is presented, as well as a case study illustrating the use of the teaching model.     

Judgments of happiness during trail running: Pleasure,engagement, and meaning

ObjectivesIt has been theorized that happiness is derived from three major, unique sets of life experience: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. The present study examined the mental processes by which individuals combined five information cues (relatedness, autonomy, competence, mental vitality and physical vitality) when judging the degree of happiness felt by a trail runner during a run.Design/methodThe participants (104 adult male athletes; M_age = 32.70; SD = 10.86) rated pleasure, engagement, and meaning in 32 scenarios built from combinations of these cues.ResultsThe results of multivariate and univariate analyses of variance indicated that all five cues had a positive effect on judgments of pleasure, engagement, and meaning. The participants used three different information integration rules, depending on the pathway to happiness being probed.ConclusionsThe information integration and the integration rules highlighted the different contributions of pleasure, engagement, and meaning in cognitive building of happiness.     

Young men’s minimisation of their body dissatisfaction

Abstract

Objective: To examine men’s body dissatisfaction qualitatively.

Design: Forty-two British men aged 18–45 years took part in a two-session group intervention across 12 groups. The intervention was designed to improve body dissatisfaction by engaging them in a critique of the appearance ideal through written and behavioural exercises.

Main outcome measures/results: Analysis of the topics discussed during the intervention generated two core themes. Theme 1 showed that, in general, men minimised the existence of their own body dissatisfaction while (somewhat surprisingly) outlining the ubiquity and potency of the appearance ideal for men in general. Theme 2 involved men reporting the problematic impact of body dissatisfaction in their lives (despite earlier minimisation), such as social avoidance, strict eating and supplement regimes, or difficulty in situations where the body was exposed.

Conclusion: The results stress the need to acknowledge that men experience a range of impacts of body dissatisfaction beyond clinical presentations (such as disordered eating) that influence their everyday lives, while also recognising that they tend to minimise this dissatisfaction in conversation. These findings have important implications for advocacy and interventions to improve men’s body dissatisfaction.     

The influence of emotional cues on prospective memory: a systematic review with meta-analyses

ABSTRACT

Remembering to perform a behaviour in the future, prospective memory, is essential to ensuring that people fulfil their intentions. Prospective memory involves committing to memory a cue to action (encoding), and later recognising and acting upon the cue in the environment (retrieval). Prospective memory performance is believed to be influenced by the emotionality of the cues, however the literature is fragmented and inconsistent. We conducted a systematic search to synthesise research on the influence of emotion on prospective memory. Sixty-seven effect sizes were extracted from 17 articles and hypothesised effects tested using three meta-analyses. Overall, prospective memory was enhanced when positively-valenced rather than neutral cues were presented (d?=?0.32). In contrast, negatively-valenced cues did not enhance prospective memory overall (d?=?0.07), but this effect was moderated by the timing of the emotional manipulation. Prospective memory performance was improved when negatively-valenced cues were presented during both encoding and retrieval (d?=?0.40), but undermined when presented only during encoding (d?=??0.25). Moderating effects were also found for cue-focality and whether studies controlled for the arousal level of the cues. The principal finding is that positively-valenced cues improve prospective memory performance and that timing of the manipulation can moderate emotional effects on prospective memory. We offer a new agenda for future empirical work and theorising in this area.     

Promoting Self-Initiated Toileting in Children with Severe Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

This study assessed the possibility of teaching self-initiated toileting through a programme that (a) allowed the subjects (children with severe developmental disabilities) to remain in their normal contexts and(b) supplied these contexts with toileting cues. Frequent toileting occasions, reinforcement and reprimands were other features of the programme. The results showed that all three children involved in the study acquired self-initiated toileting. Two of them became virtually free from accidents, one continued to have a few accidents. The implications of the results are discussed.     

Weight discrimination in helping behavior

IntroductionAlthough obesity stigma is pervasive, relatively little research has examined the extent to which the discrimination obese individuals experience extends to helping behavior.ObjectivesThe purpose of the current set of experiments was to determine whether strangers help heavy individuals less than non-heavy individuals, and to examine the impact that moderating cues (e.g., justifying or suppressing prejudice, Crandall & Eshleman, 2003) of weight-based discrimination and gender might have on helping behavior.Study 1The first study was an experiment conducted online through MTurk. Participants rated their willingness to support a proposed charity event and their perceptions of the event organizer, whose picture was manipulated to be heavy or non-heavy. We found evidence that people were less willing to help and held more negative perceptions of heavy (than non-heavy) individuals.Study 2The second study was a field experiment in which confederates either wearing or not wearing obesity prosthetics solicited help from others on a college campus. Relative to the non-heavy, heavy individuals again were less likely to be helped and received more impolite interpersonal treatment, as rated by observers. Additionally, women were denigrated more than men for being heavy, but cues that suppressed discrimination helped increase the amount of help received and the politeness of strangers.ConclusionThe overt and subtle discrimination overweight individuals experience extends to situations when they are asking for help, and this is especially the case for heavy women. However, displaying stereotype-inconsistent cues benefit overweight individuals by increasing the likelihood of them being helped and treated well.