Cyborgs in the Everyday: Masculinity and Biosensing Prostate Cancer

Abstract

An in vivo biosensor is a technology in development that will assess the biological activity of cancers to individualise external beam radiotherapy. Inserting such technology into the human body creates cybernetic organisms; a cyborg that is a human–machine hybrid. There is a gap in knowledge relating to patient willingness to allow automated technology to be embedded and to become cyborg. There is little agreement around what makes a cyborg and less understanding of the variation in the cyborgisation process. Understanding the viewpoint of possible beneficiaries addresses such gaps. There are currently three versions of ‘cyborg’ in the literature (i) a critical feminist STS concept to destabilise power inherent in dualisms, (ii) an extreme version of the human/machine in science-fiction that emphasises the ‘man’ in human and (iii) a prediction of internal physiological adaptation required for future space exploration. Interview study findings with 12 men in remission from prostate cancer show a fourth version can be used to describe current and future sub-groups of the population; ‘everyday cyborgs'. For the everyday cyborg the masculine cyborg status found in the fictionalised human–machine related to issues of control of the cancer. This was preferred to the felt stigmatisation of being a ‘leaker and bleeder’. The willingness to become cyborg was matched with a having to get used to the everyday cyborg's technological adaptations and risks. It is crucial to explore the everyday cyborg's sometimes ambivalent viewpoint. The everyday cyborg thus adds the dimension of participant voice currently missing in existing cyborg literatures and imaginations.     

A qualitative meta-synthesis on the experience of psychotherapy for deaf and hard-of-hearing people

A review was conducted to examine the experiences that affect the therapeutic relationship when a person who is deaf or hard-of-hearing meets with a therapist. Electronic databases were searched using keywords and 10 qualitative articles were retrieved that met the inclusion criteria. A qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted on the articles, including appraisal, comparison, and synthesis of findings. The results of the synthesis highlighted seven areas where the therapeutic relationship is challenged, including issues which occur before and during psychotherapy. The findings of the review are discussed in the context of the articles’ limitations. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of clinical practice, future research, and current models in psychology which are based on hearing participants.     

Executive Functioning and Gambling: Performance on the Trail Making Test is Associated with Gambling Problems in Older Adult Gamblers

ABSTRACT

Rates of gambling problems in older adults have risen with increased accessibility of gambling venues. One possible contributor to problem gambling among older adults is decreased self-control brought about by diminished executive functioning. Consistent with this possibility, Study 1 revealed that older adults recruited from gambling venues reported greater gambling problems if they also experienced deficits in executive functioning, measured via the Trail Making Test. Study 2 replicated this finding and demonstrated that problem gambling is associated with increased depression among older adults, mediated by increased financial distress. These studies provide support for the hypothesis that older adult gamblers who have executive functioning problems are also likely to have gambling problems.     

‘So people know I'm a Sikh’: Narratives of Sikh masculinities in contemporary Britain

This article examines British-born Sikh men's identification to Sikhism. In particular, it focuses on the appropriation and use of Sikh symbols amongst men who define themselves as Sikh. This article suggests that whilst there are multiple ways of ‘being’ a Sikh man in contemporary post-colonial Britain, and marking belonging to the Sikh faith, there is also a collectively understood idea of what an ‘ideal’ Sikh man should be. Drawing upon Connell and Messerschmidt's discussion of locally specific hegemonic masculinities (2005. “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.” Gender and Society 19 (6): 829–859), it is suggested that an ideal Sikh masculine identity is partly informed by a Khalsa discourse, which informs a particular performance of Sikh male identity, whilst also encouraging the surveillance of young men's activities both by themselves and by others. These Sikh masculinities are complex and multiple, rotating to reaffirm, challenge and redefine contextualised notions of hegemonic masculinity within the Sikh diaspora in post-colonial Britain. Such localised Sikh masculinities may both assert male privilege and reap patriarchal dividends (Connell, W. 1995. Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press), resulting in particular British Sikh hegemonic masculinities which seek to shape the performance of masculinity, yet in another context these very same performances of masculinity may also signify a more marginalised masculinity vis-à-vis other dominant hegemonic forms.     

Malevolent Creativity in Terrorist Organizations

Terrorist organizations are both imitative and innovative in character. While the drivers of imitation have been extensively modeled using concepts such as contagion and diffusion, creativity and innovation remain relatively underdeveloped ideas in the context of terrorist behavior. This article seeks to redress this deficiency by presenting a conceptual framework with which we can understand the complex nature and multiple drivers of creativity and innovation within terrorist organizations. The overriding questions we address are: what factors spark creativity and innovation within terrorist organizations, and are there particular organizational traits that increase an organization's propensity to be creative and innovative? Using insights from industrial and organizational psychology and aided by illustrative examples and case studies from the history of terrorism, we aim to show that the multiple drivers of creativity and innovation are identifiable. By providing a conceptual framework that explores these key issues, we suggest that a much clearer research agenda for these issues may emerge. We conclude with a discussion concerning how our framework can help inform counter‐terrorism practices.     

Tracking Children’s Print-Processing Skill Across Grades 1–3: Implications for Reading Assessment and Instruction

Grounded in the simple view of reading, this study tracked the development of print-processing skill in high-, average-, and low-achieving readers at six time points across grades 1–3. Results showed large between-group differences in sight vocabulary, oral reading accuracy, and oral reading rate that remained stable from beginning of first grade to end of third grade. While the average group consistently met pre-set instructional-level criteria for oral reading accuracy and rate, the low group did not. Implications for assessment and instruction are provided.     

Measuring emotional intelligence with the MSCEIT V2.0

Does a recently introduced ability scale adequately measure emotional intelligence (EI) skills? Using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT; J. D. Mayer, P. Salovey, & D. R. Caruso, 2002b), the authors examined (a) whether members of a general standardization sample and emotions experts identified the same test answers as correct, (b) the test's reliability, and (c) the possible factor structures of EI. Twenty-one emotions experts endorsed many of the same answers, as did 2,112 members of the standardization sample, and exhibited superior agreement, particularly when research provides clearer answers to test questions (e.g., emotional perception in faces). The MSCEIT achieved reasonable reliability, and confirmatory factor analysis supported theoretical models of EI. These findings help clarify issues raised in earlier articles published in Emotion.     

Competitiveness among females and males in physical activity classes

Competitive orientations of 237 male and female undergraduates enrolled in competitive and noncompetitive physical activity classes were investigated using the Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire [WOFO: R. L. Helmreich and J. T. Spence, The Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire: An Objective Instrument to Assess Components of Achievement Motivation and Attitudes Toward Family and Career, Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1978, 8(2) (Document #1677)] and a Competitiveness Inventory. Factor analysis confirmed the four WOFO dimensions proposed by Helmreich and Spence (mastery, work, competitiveness, personal unconcern). Factor analysis of the Competitiveness Inventory revealed three factors termed competitiveness, goal orientation, and win orientation. Sex × Activity Class (competitive or noncompetitive) (2 × 2) multivariate analyses revealed sex differences on the WOFO scores, both sex and activity differences on the Competitiveness Inventory scores, and no interactions. Sex differences on the WOFO scores confirmed Spence and Helmreich's findings; females scored higher on work and males scored higher on competitiveness. On the Competitiveness Inventory, males scored slightly higher than females on competitiveness, but most of the multivariate sex difference was due to males scoring higher on win orientation and females scoring higher on goal orientation. In contrast, the multivariate activity difference was due primarily to competitiveness; students in competitive activities scored considerably higher on competitiveness than students in noncompetitive activities. The findings suggest that sport-achievement orientation has a unique factor structure and provide evidence supporting the validity of the sport-specific, multidimensional Competitiveness Inventory.The assistance of Thomas Deeter and Carol Gruber with data collection and analysis is gratefully acknowledged.     

Ego analysis and the relativity of defense: technical implications of the structural theory

We suggest that it is recognition of the relativity of defense, of the fact that the same content can be either defense or wish, rather than recognition of unconscious defense, that distinguishes the structural from the topographic theory. The structural theory did not simply add to the topographic theory the recognition that defense can be unconscious; it represents a radical shift in the concept of defense and of the relation between defense and wish. Accordingly, ego analysis, as the technical approach generated by the structural theory, is not complementary or preliminary to id analysis, the technical approach generated by the topographic theory. We attempt to demonstrate that the two theories represent antagonistic paradigms, both theoretically and technically. We suggest that "defense before drive," the structural formula for interpretation, made ego syntonicity a crucial determinant in formulating interpretations, and assumed the relativity of defense. Accordingly, the structural revision made possible an equidistant position between defense and wish, reducing reliance on suggestion and establishing interpretive neutrality, which we distinguish from behavioral neutrality.