A Video Life-world Approach to Consultation Practice: The Relevance of a Socio-Phenomenological Approach

This article discusses the [development and] use of a video life-world schema to explore alternative orientations to the shared health consultation. It is anticipated that this schema can be used by practitioners and consumers alike to understand the dynamics of videoed health consultations, the role of the participants within it and the potential to consciously alter the outcome by altering behaviour during the process of interaction. The study examines health consultation participation and develops an interpretative method of analysis that includes image elicitation (via videos), phenomenology (to identify the components of the analytic framework), narrative (to depict the stories of interactions) and a reflexive mode (to develop shared meaning through a conceptual framework for analysis). The analytic framework is derived from a life-world conception of human mutual shared interaction which is presented here as a novel approach to understanding patient-centred care. The video materials used in this study were derived from consultations in a Walk-in Centre (WiC) in East London. The conceptual framework produced through the process of video analysis is comprised of different combinations of movement, knowledge and emotional conversations that are used to classify objective or engaged WiC health care interactions. The videoed interactions organise along an active or passive, facilitative or directive typical situation continuum illustrating different kinds of textual approaches to practice that are in tension or harmony. The schema demonstrates how practitioners and consumers interact to produce these outcomes and indicates the potential for both consumers and practitioners to be educated to develop practice dynamics that support patient-centred care and impact on health outcomes.     

Sensitivity to pain, self-regulation, coping and personality in healthy adult women

The goals of this study were to investigate the relation between sensitivity to pain and subjectively perceived intensity of pain, and to establish which psychological variables affect lesser or greater objective sensitivity to experimental pain. The study sample consisted of 74 adult women without regular pain symptoms. Experimental pain was induced by means of the Portable Electronic Dolorimeter (DEP). Intensity of induced pain was evaluated using a Visual Analogic Scale (VAS). Psychological characteristics studied were self-government, stress-coping strategies, sensitivity to anxiety and the five personality dimensions evaluated by the BFQ of Caprara, Barbaranelli and Borgogni (1995). Results revealed a positive relation between sensitivity to pain and subjective intensity of pain. An analysis of variance also revealed statistically significant differences between groups with low and high sensitivity to pain in the following variables: self-motivation, focalization in problem-solving, positive reappraisal of stressful events, energy and mental openness. The importance of the study lies in the identification of specific psychological factors for intervention in the psychological treatment of pain.     

Evaluation of three sensitivity measures in magnitude estimation tasks

Taking into account the studies about the measure of sensitivity in magnitude estimation tasks, we analyze the three most common measures used in this topic: Pearson's product-moment correlation between the logarithm of the stimulus and the logarithm of the response (R), the exponent of Stevens' power function (K), and the measure "M" proposed by Garriga-Trillo. Using a sample of participants greater than usual in psychophysical studies (180 participants), we designed an experiment with two sets of stimuli with different stimulus ranges. In each of these sets, we used two kinds of stimuli (line segments and squares). Our conclusions were: (1) we rejected the use of K as a sensitivity measure because the results provided by this index were the opposite of those expected when we compared the two stimulus ranges. (2) We also rejected the use of M because this measure is a linear transformation of Kendall's coefficient of concordance. (3) Lastly, we suggest the mathematical transformation proposed by Fisher to achieve a normal distribution, and recommend this transformation as the best sensitivity measure.     

Mental workload and visual impairment: differences between pupil, blink, and subjective rating

This research has two aims: (a) To study the concurrent validity of three measures of mental workload, NASA TLX rating scale, pupil dilation and blink rate, testing the hypothesis that they will provide convergent results using a single-task, and dissociative results for dual-task; and (b) To analyse their capability to predict visual search impairment. These three measures were analyzed in the same cognitive tasks in single-task and dual-task (cognitive task and visual search) conditions in a within-subjects experiment with twenty-nine participants. Mental workload measures showed concurrent validity under single-task condition, but a complex pattern of results arose in the dual-task condition: it is suggested that NASA TLX would be a subjective addition of the rating of each task; pupil dilation would measure the average arousal underlying the cognitive tasks; and the blink rate would produce opposite effects: whereas mental workload of cognitive tasks would increase blink rate, visual demand would inhibit it. All three measures were good predictors of visual impairment. The soundness of these measures is discussed with regard to the applied field of driving and other activities.     

QUINTUPLE EXTENSION: MIND, BODY, HUMANISM, RELIGION, SECULARISM

Extension of the system that includes the key substrates for sensation, perception, emotion, volition, and cognition, and all representational sources for cognition, supports the view that there is an extended mind and an extended body. These intellectual views can be made practical in a humanist system based on extensions and in religious systems based on extensions. Independently, there is also an institutional extension of secularism. Hence, I maintain, there are five principal forms of extension.     

The influence of theme identifiability

In the present study, we used the Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm to analyze the relationship between theme identifiability of word lists and false memories in adults and children. We conducted two normative studies to determine the identifiability levels for critical unpresented words in 40 associative lists in adults and in 16 associative lists in children. Then, in three experiments, false memories for critical words that were either easy or hard to identify were analyzed in adults and in children 4–5 years old and 11–12 years old. Opposite results were found for adults and children. Lists with highly identifiable critical words produced fewer false memories for adults but more false memories for children. These results suggest that, if they can identify critical words, adults use an identify-to-reject strategy to edit out false memories, whereas, in children, theme identification does not lead to the use of such a monitoring strategy.     

Performance,cardiovascular, and health behavior effects of an inhibitory strength training intervention

Female undergraduates were assigned to one of three groups, two involving regulatory training and one not. Training participants performed for 2 weeks tasks that required strong behavioral restraint (Strong Training) or weak behavioral restraint (Weak Training). Later, they took part in (1) a laboratory session in which they performed tasks with inhibitory components, and (2) a follow-up week in which they provided health behavior reports and used designated dental supplies. No Training participants took part only in the session and follow-up week. As expected, laboratory performance was improved for Strong- relative to No Training participants, with performance for Weak Training participants falling in between. Also as expected, Strong Training participants used more floss in the follow-up week than did the No Training participants, with floss for Weak Training participants falling between. Contrary to expectation, Strong Training participants used less toothpaste and reported having brushed less than the No Training participants. In addition, Strong Training participants evinced exaggerated—rather than diminished—cardiovascular responses during the laboratory tasks. The performance and floss use data support the suggestion that inhibitory system strength can be increased through use. The brushing and cardiovascular findings may be interpretable in inhibitory strength terms.     

Hysterectomy as Viewed by Mexican Women and Men

This study explored the views of Mexican men and women concerning hysterectomy. We studied 120 women and 135 men between the ages of 36 and 55. Women had not had a hysterectomy and men were married to a woman without a hysterectomy. The most negative views about hysterectomy were women’s suppositions about male perceptions, but only among people with a limited educational background. This group was more likely to believe that women who undergo hysterectomy are incomplete, rejected by their partners, and experience emotional changes. These findings are discussed in light of sociocultural features.     

Maternal gestational stress alters adaptive and social behavior in adolescent rhesus monkey offspring

Data from rodent studies have indicated that stress experienced by pregnant mothers may result in behavioral and biological abnormalities in their offspring. However, few studies have examined the effects of prenatal stress on the offspring beyond the childhood period. In this study, 7 prenatally stressed (PNS) monkeys and 7 monkeys from undisturbed pregnancies were tested under mildly challenging conditions at 4 years of age. Following separation from cagemates and group formation, PNS monkeys showed more locomotion, abnormal and disturbance behavior than controls. Controls showed approximately six times more play than PNS animals. The PNS males showed the most clinging to others and the largest increase in contact with other animals over the period. Group differences were also found when the monkeys were observed as groups or alone in a playroom. Controls showed more explanatory behavior in the playroom, whereas PNS monkeys showed more inactivity. Control animals showed a decrease in distress vocalizations over time in the playroom, whereas PNS animals showed the opposite pattern. Control animals spent more time in proximity to and contact with cagemates than PNS animals. These results indicate that prenatal stress can have effects on adaptive and social behavior that persist into adolescence.