Testing the effects of end-goal during reach-to-grasp movements in Parkinson’s disease

Previous evidence suggests that hand shaping during reaching is modulated by the presence and the nature of the end-goal following object’s grasp. Here we test whether such modulation is maintained in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Six participants with PD and six healthy participants took part in the study. Participants were requested to reach towards a bottle filled with water, and then: (1) grasp it without performing any subsequent action; (2) grasp it and place it accurately on a target area; (3) grasp it and pour its contents within a container. The results showed that participants shaped their hand differently depending on the presence or absence of an action following object’s grasp. However, the request to perform an action after grasp determined a modulation of hand kinematics which was delayed for PD than for control participants. Further, whereas for control participants the nature of the end-goal determined a modulation of hand shaping, for PD patients such modulation was not evident. Data are discussed in terms of the role played by basal ganglia in implementing anticipatory mechanisms for the control of manipulative activities. We contend that in PD patients these mechanisms are not totally compromised, but their implementation depends on the action information that has to be anticipated.     

Correspondence of children's anticipated vocations, perceived competencies, and interests: Results from an Italian sample

Relations among anticipated vocations, self-assessments of competence, and interests in sample of 190 Italian children were examined. Children were asked what activities they liked, those they thought they were good at, and what job they expected when they grew up. The responses were coded into RIASEC Holland codes and agreement across the three questions was examined using kappa statistics. Results indicated that there was no relation between anticipated occupations and either interest or perceived competence. Thus, these anticipated occupations appear to be based on unrealistic criteria and the validity of studying such early expressions of interest is questionable. Conversely, results demonstrated a correspondence between interest and competence and this correspondence was similar for boys and girls and increased with age.     

Developments in the Debate on Nanoethics: Traditional Approaches and the Need for New Kinds of Analysis

This paper aims to review different discourses within the emerging field of ethical reflection on nanotechnology. I will start by analysing the early stages of this debate, showing how it has been focused on searching for legitimacy for this sphere of moral inquiry. I will then characterise an ethical approach, common to many authors, which frames ethical issues in terms of risks and benefits. This approach identifies normative issues where there are conflicts of interest or where challenges to the fundamental values of our society arise. In response to the limitations of this approach, other commentators have called for more profound analysis of the limits of our knowledge, and have appealed to values, such as sustainability or responsibility, which should, they suggest, inform nanotechnological development (I will define this approach as a “sophisticated form of prudence”). After showing the ways in which these frameworks are limited, I will examine more recent developments in debates on nanoethics which call for the contextualisation of ethical discourse in its ontological, epistemic and socio-economic and political reflections. Such contextualisation thus involves inquiry into the ‘metaphysical research program’ (MRP) of nanotechnology/ies and analysis of the socio-economic, political and historical reality of nano. These ideas offer genuinely new insights into the kind of approach required for nanoethical reflection: they recover a sense of the present alongside the need to engage with the past, while avoiding speculation on the future.     

Bridging professional and mutual-help: An application of the transtheoretical model to the mutual-help organization

The authors suggest that the mental health system of the nation could benefit by more fully embracing the idea of mutual-help (i.e., self-help), and this collaboration could be facilitated by the utilization of a well-established clinical theory to elucidate the psychological processes at work within mutual-help organizations. The processes of change of the transtheoretical model is offered as one potential framework. This well-established model has been used to help psychologists better understand clinical and professional phenemonena, but, to date, has been used less frequently with non-professional interventions. This article applies the ten processes of change of the transtheoretical model to mutual-help organizations, focusing on four groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Oxford House, GROW, and Schizophrenics Anonymous. The advantages of the transtheoretical model and its potential ability to act as a common language across clinical professionals and mutual-help organizations are discussed. In addition, advantages of bolstering the present mental health system using combinations of both forms of care along the recovery continuum are described.     

Effect of expertise acquisition on strategic perception: the example of chess

The two experiments presented here study perceptual processes implemented by chess players in situations related to their domain of expertise. The aim was to determine how patterns are perceived as a function of their strategic value when players acquire expertise. In this study, conducted on novice and more experienced players, it is hypothesized that with acquisition of expertise players would quickly encode familiar patterns and then rapidly focus their attention on patterns with a higher immediate strategic value. In Experiment 1, participants had to carry out a change-detection task that used the "flicker paradigm". The results showed that during the perception of standard chess positions, experienced players--but not novices--quickly focused their attention on the most strategic patterns. In Experiment 2, experienced players and novices carried out a recognition task after having encoded chess positions for 1 or 5 s. The results indicated early encoding of familiar patterns without immediate strategic value, followed by the encoding of more strategic patterns. Taken together, the results of these two experiments are consistent with the results by both de Groot and Gobet (1996) and McGregor and Howes (2002) about the strategic content of Chase and Simon's chunks (Chase & Simon, 1973b).     

Toward a reliable and valid measure of institutional mission and values perception: the DePaul values inventory

Across three studies, the development of a reliable and valid measure of perceptions by students of an urban, private, faith‐based teaching university's mission and values was assessed. Study 1 presented scale construction and reliability of the DePaul Values Inventory (DeVI) with undergraduates (n = 111), yielding a final 22‐item rating scale with four subscales. Study 2 supported the psychometric structure of the DeVI through a confirmatory factor analysis (n = 292). Study 3 assessed the DeVI's discriminant validity by correlating scores with social desirability and personal values surveys (n = 106). Overall, the DeVI was determined to be a reliable and valid measure of students' perceptions of an institution's mission and values, regardless of student gender, and independent of one's personal values even controlling for social approval tendencies. Future studies should examine the DeVI and its applicability for other similar institutions of higher learning.     

Differential incidence of procrastination between blue and white-collar workers

The present study compared chronic procrastination tendencies claimed by “whitecollar” working adults (n = 141) with rates reported by Harriott and Ferrari ( 1996) of “blue-collar” working adults (n - 211). Participants completed reliable and valid measures of everyday procrastination tendencies (decisional, arousal, and avoidant), and socio-demographic items at one of several public forums. Results showed no significant difference between classes of working adults on age, gender, marital status, or the number of children, although “white-collar” workers claimed higher levels of education than “blue-collar” workers. “White-collar” workers also reported significantly higher scores on all three forms of chronic procrastination than “blue-collar” workers. It seems that professional employees report procrastination more frequently than unskilled workers. Further research is needed to explore the causes and consequences associated with differences in chronic procrastination by occupational group.     

Impact of school sense of community within a faith-based university: administrative and academic staff perceptions on institutional mission and values

Academic staff (n = 305) and administrative staff (n = 595) at a large urban, Catholic, and religious order teaching university completed on-line school sense of community, social desirability, and mission-identity plus mission-driven activity measures. Partial correlates (controlling for social desirability) indicated that for both faculty and staff a sense of community with co-workers and with administrators were significantly related to mission-identity characteristics of the university. Moreover, regression analyses found that for faculty and staff significant predictors of school sense of community variables were perceptions that the university was innovative and inclusive of pragmatic and risk-taking ideas. For staff but not for faculty, a feeling of Catholic pluralism on campus was a significant predictor of a sense of community with co-workers. These outcomes suggest that employees at faith-based universities may strengthen their school sense of community by institutional practices and programs that foster creating a setting for innovative, inclusive, pragmatic, and risk-taking policies, but not necessarily religious practices on campus.     

Personality traits and endocrine response as possible asymmetry factors of agonistic outcome in karate athletes

Individual variations of plasma levels of hormones testosterone (T) and cortisol (C), before (pre) and after (post) Kumite (real fight) and Kata (ritualized fight) were measured in male karate athletes and analyzed in relation with the agonistic outcome (i.e. winning or losing the fight) and personality trait measures. T and C increased only during Kumite contest and pre‐ and post‐competition C levels were higher in losers than winners. Losers showed higher levels of harm avoidance and anxiety as well as lower level of novelty seeking than winners. Importantly, novelty seeking negatively correlates with pre C and the higher the level of risk assessment, emotionality and insecurity indexes the higher the pre C level. In conclusion, personality traits might be an important factor asymmetry between athletes influencing both the probability of winning or losing an agonistic interaction and the different anticipatory endocrine response to the incipient fight. Aggr. Behav. 35:324–333, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.