Breaking script: Deviations and postevent information in adult memory for a repeated event

Witnesses to industrial incidents may be asked to recall a single instance of a familiar event. This research systematically tested if deviations to what typically occurs and postevent information (PEI) enhanced reporting of an instance of a repeated event. Across 2 experiments, each participant experienced 5 food‐tasting instances; these instances comprised the repeated event. Half of the participants in both Experiments 1 (continuous deviation setting) and 2 (continuous deviation integrated) experienced a deviation to how the third instance occurred. Also, half of the participants in both experiments received PEI about the third instance. All participants demonstrated superior reporting for the first instance of the repeated event. The continuous deviation setting in Experiment 1 enhanced reporting for all 5 instances of the repeated event (general effect). In Experiment 2, participants who received a continuous deviation integrated and PEI demonstrated superior reporting for the first and third instances of the event (targeted effect).     

To harvest,procure, or receive? Organ transplantation metaphors and the technological imaginary

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics - One must technologize bodies to conceive of organ transplantation. Organs must be envisioned as replaceable parts, serving mechanical functions for the workings...     

The Messiness of Ethics in Education

Journal of Academic Ethics - This article considers the multifaceted concept of ethics and how, despite being a familiar notion within education, it is still much contested within literature and...     

Equivalence of human odometry by walk and run is indifferent to self-selected speed

Humans and other animals can measure distances nonvisually by legged locomotion. Experiments typically employ an outbound measure (M) and an inbound report (R) phase. Previous research has found distance reproduction to be maximally accurate, when gait symmetry and speed of M and R are of like kind: Successful human odometry manifests at the level of the M-R system. In the present work, M was an experimenter-set distance produced by a blindfolded participant using a primary gait (walk, run). R was always by walk. Fast and slow versions of walk and run were adopted by participants, such that when M was fast R was slow, and vice versa. Distance was underestimated when M was slower than R and overestimated when M was faster than R. However, the pattern of participant-adopted velocities indicated that it was the instructions, not the speed as such, that yielded the pattern of results. The results are interpretable through a dynamical perspective and indicate speed is an imperfection parameter acting on the attractors of the M-R system.     

Age and sex differences in object control skills by children ages 5 to 14

Object control skills provide children the tools to be physically active-a major societal priority. At the fundamental movement level, object control skills form the foundation of further sports skill development. The purpose of this study was to examine children's (ages 5 to 14 years, Grades K-8) development of four key object control skills: catching, throwing, kicking, and striking. 186 children were tested on selected items from the Object Control Subtest of the Test of Gross Motor Development-2, using a cross-sectional and correlational design. As anticipated, significant differences were found for age on all four skills. These improvements were characterized by early, rapid gains at ages 9 to 10, beyond which development occurred at a slower rate for catching, throwing, and kicking; striking development continued at a steady rate to age 14 years. Contrary to previous findings, no overall sex differences were found for catching or kicking. Overall sex differences favoring boys were observed for throwing and striking. Implications for evolutionary contributions to throwing and striking were discussed.     

Simulations of dolphin kick swimming using smoothed particle hydrodynamics

In competitive human swimming the submerged dolphin kick stroke (underwater undulatory swimming) is utilized after dives and turns. The optimal dolphin kick has a balance between minimizing drag and maximizing thrust while also minimizing the physical exertion required of the swimmer. In this study laser scans of athletes are used to provide realistic swimmer geometries in a single anatomical pose. These are rigged and animated to closely match side-on video footage. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) fluid simulations are performed to evaluate variants of this swimming stroke technique. This computational approach provides full temporal and spatial information about the flow moving around the deforming swimmer model. The effects of changes in ankle flexibility and stroke frequency are investigated through a parametric study. The results suggest that the net streamwise force on the swimmer is relatively insensitive to ankle flexibility but is strongly dependent on kick frequency.     

Legal briefing: The unbefriended: making healthcare decisions for patients without surrogates (Part 2)

This issue's "Legal Briefing" column continues coverage of recent legal developments involving medical decision making for unbefriended patients. These patients have neither decision-making capacity nor a reasonably available surrogate to make healthcare decisions on their behalf. This topic has been the subject of recent articles in JCE. It has been the subject of major policy reports. Indeed, caring for the unbefriended has even been described as the "single greatest category of problems" encountered in bioethics consultation. Moreover, the scope of the problem continues to expand, especially with rapid growth in the elderly population and with an increased prevalence of dementia. Unfortunately, most U.S.jurisdictions have failed to adopt effective healthcare decision-making systems or procedures for the unbefriended. "Existing mechanisms to address the issue of decision making for the unbefriended are scant and not uniform." Most providers are "muddling through on an ad hoc basis." Still, over the past several months, a number of state legislatures have finally addressed the issue. These developments and a survey of the current landscape are grouped into the following 14 categories. The first two categories define the problem of medical decision making for the unbefriended.The remaining 12 describe different solutions to the problem. The first six categories were covered in Part 1 of this article; the last eight categories are covered in this issue (Part 2). 1. Who are the unbefriended? 2. Risks and problems of the unbefriended. 3. Prevention: advance care planning, diligent searching, and careful capacity assessment. 4. Decision-making mechanisms and standards. 5. Emergency exception to informed consent. 6. Expanded default surrogate lists: close friends. 7. Private guardians. 8. Volunteer guardians. 9. Public guardians. 10. Temporary and emergency guardians. 11. Attending physicians. 12. Other clinicians, individuals, and entities. 13. Institutional committees. 14. External committees.     

How daydreaming relates to life satisfaction, loneliness, and social support: the importance of gender and daydream content

Daydreaming appears to have a complex relationship with life satisfaction and happiness. Here we demonstrate that the facets of daydreaming that predict life satisfaction differ between men and women (Study 1; N=421), that the content of daydreams tends to be social others (Study 2; N=17,556), and that who we daydream about influences the relation between daydreaming and happiness variables like life satisfaction, loneliness, and perceived social support (Study 3; N=361). Specifically, daydreaming about people not close to us predicts more loneliness and less perceived social support, whereas daydreaming about close others predicts greater life satisfaction. Importantly, these patterns hold even when actual social network depth and breadth are statistically controlled, although these associations tend to be small in magnitude. Individual differences and the content of daydreams are thus important to consider when examining how happiness relates to spontaneous thoughts.     

Family Intervention to Prevent Depression and Substance Use Among Adolescents of Depressed Parents

Parental depression places offspring at elevated risk for multiple, co-occurring problems. The purpose of this study was to develop and preliminarily evaluate Project Hope, a family intervention for the prevention of both depression and substance use among adolescent-aged children (M?=?13.9?years) of depressed parents. The program was created by blending two empirically supported interventions: one for depression and another for substance use. Thirty families were randomly assigned to either Project Hope (n?=?16) or a wait-list control condition (n?=?14). Pretests, posttests (n?=?29), and 5-month follow-ups (n?=?28) were conducted separately with parents and youth via phone interviews. Questions asked about the family depression experience, family interactions, family management, coping, adolescent substance use beliefs and refusal skills, adolescent depression, and adolescent substance use. Project Hope was fully developed, manualized, and implemented with a small sample of targeted families. Engagement in the program was relatively high. Preliminary outcome analyses were conducted using 2 (Group) ×3 (Time) analyses of covariance. Results provided some evidence for significant improvements among intervention compared to control participants in indicators of the family depression experience, family management, and coping, and a statistically significant decrease from pretest to posttest in alcohol quantity for intervention compared to control youth. Next steps for this program of research are discussed.     

An Approach to Examining the Proximal and Intermediate Outcomes of an Intensive Family Preservation Program

This study examined the effects of the Boys Town In-Home Family Program (BT-IHFP) on parenting skills, family functioning, and child behavior for at-risk families involved with child protective services. The BT-IHFP is designed as a home-based, family-centered alternative to out-of-home placement with the goal of improving family functioning, keeping families together, and preventing further involvement with child protective services. The model uses a hands-on cognitive-behavioral approach, promotes family engagement, provides 24/7 services to families, and links families to community resources. While it is essential to examine ultimate, long-term outcomes such as family preservation, it is also important to investigate the proximal and intermediate outcomes that address the key changes in behavior that support successful long-term outcomes. The goals of this study were to (1) examine the pre-post change of proximal and intermediate outcomes and (2) examine if improvements in parenting skills, parental roles, and parental stress (proximal outcomes) will be related to improvements in child behavior at home, child behavior at school, and family functioning (intermediate outcomes). Inspecting intake and discharge data for 44 families, 94% were intact at discharge and significant pre-post improvements were found in proximal and intermediate outcomes. These findings suggest that this six-week intensive BT-IHFP holds promise for teaching at-risk families skills to promote positive family functioning.