Is optimal vision required for the successful execution of an interceptive task?

The importance of optimal visual function in demanding interceptive tasks is far from established. The aim of the study was to determine whether induced myopic blur and hence sub-optimal visual function would give rise to a detrimental effect on performance in the execution of an interceptive task. The batting performance of grade level cricket players was assessed facing a bowling machine whilst wearing contact lenses of four different refractive conditions (plano (nil), +1.00, +2.00 and +3.00D over-refraction), inducing increasing amounts of myopic blur. Performance for each condition was assessed based both on the shot quality against each delivery judged by a qualified cricket coach blind to each condition, along with an evaluation of the quality of ball-bat contact for each delivery. No significant change was found in batting performance with the introduction of +1.00 and +2.00D of induced myopic blur. A +3.00D over-correction was required before any significant decrease in batting performance was detected, demonstrating that batters needed to be essentially legally blind (as simulated through the use of the +3.00D over-refraction) before there was any significant measurable decrement in batting performance. We concluded that optimal visual correction is not necessarily required for optimal performance in a demanding interceptive task, and that the human perceptual-motor system is capable of compensating for marked alterations in input.     

Queer Theory and Its Future in Psychology: Exploring Issues of Race Privilege

Queer theory is increasingly making an impact on the discipline of psychology in the UK and elsewhere, both in the form of those who explicitly use queer theory, and those who exhibit a queer sensibility. Yet, it has been suggested, queer theorising more broadly has largely neglected to account for its racial politics, an issue that holds ongoing relevance for its application across disciplines. In this paper, I outline six key areas requiring further attention in regards to the growing use of queer theory within psychology: (i) a greater recognition of the histories on which queer theory builds, (ii) an understanding of how racial hierarchies shape accounts of individualism and universalism, (iii) a continued focus on the operations of a racialised queer desire, (iv) an investigation of the implication of critiques of essentialism, (v) ongoing explorations of language use within queer theorising, and (vi) greater acknowledgement of tensions within queer community building. These six points provide new avenues of consideration for those already in the field, and will encourage those new to the field to explore its unnamed assumptions.     

The state of order in Fe–Al studied by precession electron diffraction

Precession electron diffraction (PED) has been carried out on a fully ordered Fe–40at.%Al solid solution in order to explore its suitability for determining the state of order. The integrated intensity ratio of a superlattice reflection with respect to a fundamental reflection was measured as a function of the sample thickness and the results are well fitted by dynamical simulations. It is proposed that, in addition to conventional X-ray diffraction, PED may provide access to the state of order at microscopic and nanoscopic scales.     

‘If they didn’t support me,I most likely wouldn’t be here’: Transgender young people and their parents negotiating medical treatment in Australia

Abstract

Background: It is increasingly recognized that transgender young people require affirming medical care, however the provision of such care may be mitigated by the availability of services and the views of parents.

Aims: This study aimed to explore the views of Australian transgender young people (aged 11–17) and their parents with regards to medical treatment.

Methods: Ten qualitative interviews were conducted with parent-child dyads in two Australian states. Thematic analysis was undertaken on responses to interview questions related to family relationships, views about medical treatment (specifically hormone blockers and hormones), and the relationship between medical treatment and sense of self.

Results: Themes developed focused on the importance of strong supportive parent-child relationships, the meaning of and access to hormone blockers, and the meaning of and access to hormones.

Discussion: The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for clinical services, particularly in relation to supporting parents to be affirming of a transgender child, the need to prepare transgender young people and their parents for the passage of time in regards to medical treatment, and the need to focus on expectations in regards to sense of self in relation to medical treatment.