Collaborative learning: the effects of trust and open and closed dynamics on consensus and efficacy

The current study compared the effects of open versus closed group dynamics on perceived consensus, objective consensus, and perceived efficacy of collaborative learning in participants high and low in dispositional trust in the context of an Interactive Management (IM) session. Interactive management is a computer-mediated collaborative tool designed to enhance group problem-solving by facilitating cooperative inquiry and consensus. In the current study, two groups of 15 undergraduate psychology students (N = 30) came together to structure the interdependencies between positive and negative aspects of social media. After screening for trust scores, participants high and low on dispositional trust were randomly assigned to either an open or closed voting condition. The closed voting group were not permitted to discuss the problem relations, but consensus votes were recorded by the group design facilitator. The open group were allowed to discuss the relations before voting. Results indicated that those in the open-voting group, and those in the high dispositional trust group, scored significantly higher on perceived consensus and perceived efficacy of the tool itself. Results are discussed in light of theory and research on collaborative learning.     

Responses

Philosophical Studies - This is a response to the comments of Boghossian (Philos Stud, 2016. doi: 10.1007/s11098-016-0716-1 ), Cullity (Philos Stud, 2016. doi: 10.1007/s11098-016-0717-0 ), Pettit...     

A role for ownership and authorship in the analysis of thought insertion

Philosophers are interested in the phenomenon of thought insertion because it challenges the common assumption that one can ascribe to oneself the thoughts that one can access first-personally. In the standard philosophical analysis of thought insertion, the subject owns the ‘inserted’ thought but lacks a sense of agency towards it. In this paper we want to provide an alternative analysis of the condition, according to which subjects typically lack both ownership and authorship of the ‘inserted’ thoughts. We argue that by appealing to a failure of ownership and authorship we can describe more accurately the phenomenology of thought insertion, and distinguish it from that of non-delusional beliefs that have not been deliberated about, and of other delusions of passivity. We can also start developing a more psychologically realistic account of the relation between intentionality, rationality and self knowledge in normal and abnormal cognition.

Postnatal depression among mothers in the United Arab Emirates: socio-cultural and physical factors

Postnatal depression (PND) has been found to affect women in cultures around the world. This study sought to further identify the prevalence and related socio-cultural and physical factors in Arab women from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study involved a sample of Emirati women recruited in a government maternity hospital in Abu Dhabi who completed demographic questionnaires soon after giving birth (n=125) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 3 months (n=86) and 6 months postpartum (n=56). Data are presented in three categories of: No Depression (scores of 0-9), Borderline Depression (scores of 10-12) and Depression (scores of 13+). It was found that at 3 months, this sample had 22% of mothers falling into the Depression category and another 22% falling in the Borderline Depression category. At 6 months, this fell to 12.5% Depression category and 19.6% Borderline Depression category. Relationships between higher depression scores and risk factors included; not breastfeeding, giving birth to the first child, poor self body image and view of weight, poor relationship with mother-in-law, and an older age at marriage. Results are discussed in relation to UAE and Islamic culture.     

Précis

Philosophical Studies -