Yoga in Penitentiary Settings: Transcendence,Spirituality, and Self-Improvement

Yoga, together with other so-called holistic spiritual practices such as reiki or meditation, is one of the most popular spiritual disciplines in our contemporary society. The success of yoga crosses the boundaries between health, sport, religion, and popular culture. However, from a sociological point of view, this is a largely under-researched field. Aiming to fill this gap, this article analyzes the impact, meaning, and implications of the practice of yoga by taking prisons as the institutional context of the study. The growth of yoga in penitentiary settings is a recent trend in many countries and raises new questions concerning its potential to foster well-being and self-transformation. The research presented here applies Schutz’s concepts of “finite province of meaning” and “stock of knowledge” to understand yoga’s role in inmates’ lives. The main argument of the article is that yoga is a body technique that affords inmates the possibility to enter into a “finite province of meaning” and transcend their everyday prison lives. However, the impact of yoga upon inmates’ lives is not limited just to its physical effects as learning yoga also involves the acquisition of a “spiritual stock of knowledge” made up of Eastern philosophy, holistic concepts, and self-help therapeutic narratives. Indeed, physical movements and spiritual accounts constitute one another in the practice of yoga, thus opening up a pathway into a different reality; movement and spiritual discourse inform one another—and it is precisely in this reflexivity that “transcendent experiences” are created and yoga is made meaningful and important in the improvement-setting of the prison. This article is based on ethnographic fieldwork developed carried out in two different penitentiary institutions.     

The influence of emotion type,social value orientation and processing focus on approach-avoidance tendencies to negative dynamic facial expressions

Facial expressions of anger and fear have been seen to elicit avoidance behavior in the perceiver due to their negative valence. However, recent research uncovered discrepancies regarding these immediate motivational implications of fear and anger, suggesting that not all negative emotions trigger avoidance to a comparable extent. To clarify those discrepancies, we considered recent theoretical and methodological advances, and investigated the role of social preferences and processing focus on approach-avoidance tendencies (AAT) to negative facial expressions. We exposed participants to dynamic facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear, or sadness, while they processed either the emotional expression or the gender of the faces. AATs were assessed by reaction times of lever movements, and by posture changes via head-tracking. We found that—relative to angry faces-, fearful and sad faces triggered more approach, with a larger difference between fear and anger in prosocial compared to individualistic participants. Interestingly, these findings are in line with a recently developed concern hypothesis, suggesting that—relative to other negative expressions—expressions of distress may facilitate approach, especially in participants with prosocial preferences.     

默读和出声阅读的副中央凹预视效应

以往研究大多考察默读中是否存在副中央凹预视效应及存在何种类型的预视效应,很少有研究探讨出声阅读中的副中央凹预视效应以及阅读中预视信息提取的时间进程。本研究采用边界范式,通过两个眼动实验考察默读和出声阅读中的副中央凹预视效应及预视信息提取的时间进程。实验1发现在默读和出声阅读中都存在副中央凹预视效应,但是默读中副中央凹预视效应更大。实验2发现出声阅读中在注视中央凹词汇的早期不能提取副中央凹处信息。两个实验的结果表明默读和出声阅读条件下的副中央凹加工是不同的,需要用不同的眼动模型解释。     

A cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention based on the Health Action Process Approach for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in Iranian adolescents

Objective: To evaluate an intervention programme based on the Health Action Process Approach and designed to increase the intake of fruit and vegetables (F&V) among Iranian adolescents aged 13 to 18.

Design: A randomised controlled trial with three arms examined the short- (1 month) and long-term (6 months) effects of the intervention. There were two intervention groups (one included adolescents only [A group; n = 510]; the second included mothers and adolescents [M + A group; n = 462]) and a control group (n = 483). All participants were recruited from schools.

Main outcome measures: Social cognitions, self-regulatory processes and F&V intake.

Results: The intervention led to an increase in F&V intake for adolescents in the short and long terms. Adolescents in the M + A group increased their F& V intake more than adolescents in the A group. Outcome expectancies, self-monitoring, intentions, action and coping planning, perceived social support and behavioural automaticity mediated the effect of the intervention on F&V intake.

Conclusion: The theory-based intervention led to an increase in F&V intake and promoted more positive social cognitions and self-regulatory processes among Iranian adolescents. The findings also provide evidence that involving mothers in an intervention can confer additional benefit.     

Influence of plastic strain localisation on the mechanical properties of metal matrix composites

The aim of the present study is to reveal the most critical underlying factor influencing the mechanical properties of metal matrix composites (MMCs). It is shown that the mechanical properties of MMCs are essentially governed by the degree of strain localisation during plastic deformation. In other words, the MMCs exhibit superior mechanical performance only if the strain localisation is obviously inhibited and the accumulated stresses can be effectively transferred out. The work provides a new perspective in guiding the design of next-generation high-performance MMCs by suppressing the strain localisation as far as possible.     

Cultural influences in acquiescent response: A study of trainer evaluation biases

The current study is developed to identify factors that affect trainees’ acquiescent tendency in organizational trainer evaluations. We posit that conflict‐handling style affects ones tendency to acquiesce in trainer evaluations, and this relationship is regulated by cultural influence. Surveys were sent to employees with training experience in Taiwan and North America, 395 valid responses were collected. Results showed that the two individual conflict‐handling styles: non‐confrontation style and dominating style, are positively related to acquiescent tendency; and their relationship is found moderated by the influence of Confucian work dynamism, thus confirming the influence of cultural norms. Our findings contribute to HRD practitioners by highlighting the different conflict‐handling style and culture influence will result in different level of acquiescent propensity, trainer evaluations results should be interpreted more carefully and cautiously.     

Psychometric Properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire – II for Taiwanese College Students and Elite Athletes

The aim of this study was to validate the Taiwanese version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) using a population that consisted of college students and athletes. The authors conducted three independent studies to examine the psychometric properties of the AAQ-II. Study 1 examined the validity of the AAQ-II in a sample of undergraduate students. Study 2 examined the group invariance of the AAQ-II between undergraduate students and athletes. Study 3 examined nomological validity by testing the mediating role of experiential avoidance in the relationship between perceived autonomy support and well?/ill-being indicators. Overall, the results of the confirmatory factor analyses conducted in Study 1 demonstrated the existence of a unidimensional AAQ-II. AAQ-II was positively correlated with depression. The internal consistency of the scale was 0.81. In Study 2, factorial invariance of the AAQ-II was demonstrated across undergraduate students and adolescent athletes. Study 3 showed that perceived autonomy support was related to both depression and negative emotion through experiential avoidance. However, experiential avoidance did not mediate the relationship between perceived autonomy support and positive emotion and life satisfaction. In summary, this study provided preliminary evidence to support the validity and reliability of the AAQ-II and opened a new avenue for cross-cultural researchers.     

疼痛恐惧相关的注意偏向及其矫正

疼痛恐惧是影响和维持慢性痛的重要因素。不同材料和被试类型情况下, 疼痛恐惧均主要作用于个体对疼痛相关信息的早期注意加工阶段, 表现为注意警觉模式。该注意模式使个体将注意维持在疼痛上, 从而干扰了对非疼信息的注意能力。矫正疼痛恐惧相关注意偏向可以改善疼痛体验。未来研究应采用更具生态效度的任务测量疼痛恐惧相关的注意偏向及其神经基础, 进一步考察矫正疼痛恐惧相关注意偏向能否改善慢痛患者的忧郁和功能丧失等问题。     

干预胆碱M受体对药物成瘾的影响及其与多巴胺的关系

药物成瘾是一类精神及行为障碍, 涉及到中枢神经系统的病变。毒蕈碱受体(Muscarinic receptor, M受体)属于胆碱能受体, 分5种亚型。行为学研究表明, 干预M受体能有效影响药物成瘾行为, 但其神经机制还亟待探索。阿片类药物与精神活性药物均能激活中枢多巴胺系统, 而M受体与多巴胺系统在多个脑区产生了交互作用。其中激动M2及M4受体抑制了多巴胺系统功能, 而激动M5受体增强了多巴胺系统功能, 与干预M2、M4、M5受体对药物成瘾行为的影响相对应。以上证据提示, 干预M受体可能通过影响多巴胺系统对药物成瘾起作用。     

美国医疗系统的中流砥柱:非营利性私立医院

系统介绍了美国医疗系统的主流--非营利性私立医院的起源、性质、运行情况以及在医疗服务中的地位,并将之与营利性医院进行对比,以揭示限制医疗市场化的重要意义.