Medical Education for Social Justice: Paulo Freire Revisited

Although social justice is an integral component of medical professionalism, there is little discussion in medical education about how to teach it to future physicians. Using adult learning theory and the work of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, medical educators can teach a socially-conscious professionalism through educational content and teaching strategies. Such teaching can model non-hierarchical relationships to learners, which can translate to their clinical interactions with patients. Freirian teaching can additionally foster professionalism in both teachers and learners by ensuring that they are involved citizens in their local, national and international communities.     

The control of posture in newly standing infants is task dependent

The postural sway patterns of newly standing infants were compared under two conditions: standing while holding a toy and standing while not holding a toy. Infants exhibited a lower magnitude of postural sway and more complex sway patterns when holding the toy. These changes suggest that infants adapt postural sway in a manner that facilitates visually fixating on and stabilizing the toy in their hand. When simply standing, infants exhibited postural sway patterns that appeared to be more exploratory in nature. Exploratory sway patterns may allow infants to learn the affordances of their new standing posture. These results demonstrate that newly standing infants are capable of task-dependent postural control.     

Correction to: Normalizing the Use of Single‑Item Measures: Validation of the Single‑Item Compendium for Organizational Psychology

Journal of Business and Psychology -     

Changes in cue-induced, prefrontal cortex activity with video-game play

Brain responses, particularly within the orbitofrontal and cingulate cortices, to Internet video-game cues in college students are similar to those observed in patients with substance dependence in response to the substance-related cues. In this study, we report changes in brain activity between baseline and following 6 weeks of Internet video-game play. We hypothesized that subjects with high levels of self-reported craving for Internet video-game play would be associated with increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, particularly the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. Twenty-one healthy university students were recruited. At baseline and after a 6-week period of Internet video-game play, brain activity during presentation of video-game cues was assessed using 3T blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging. Craving for Internet video-game play was assessed by self-report on a 7-point visual analogue scale following cue presentation. During a standardized 6-week video-game play period, brain activity in the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex of the excessive Internet game-playing group (EIGP) increased in response to Internet video-game cues. In contrast, activity observed in the general player group (GP) was not changed or decreased. In addition, the change of craving for Internet video games was positively correlated with the change in activity of the anterior cingulate in all subjects. These changes in frontal-lobe activity with extended video-game play may be similar to those observed during the early stages of addiction.     

The Profession of Family Therapy in South Korea: Current Status and Future Directions

The authors present a brief overview of the family therapy field in South Korea. Since its introduction in the late 1970s, family therapy has been developing into a professional field with education and training institutions, practice settings, credentials, and practitioners holding memberships in various professional organizations. While such issues as family values and types, filial piety, violence, interethnic marriage, and social polarization have resulted in an increased demand for family therapy, such services are not readily accessible to Korean families in need. Efforts should be made in increasing number of competent family therapists by strengthening both academic and clinical requirements for credentialing. Efforts are also needed in increasing accessibility of family therapy services by making them more available within a variety of human service contexts.     

Effectiveness Evaluation of Search and Target Acquisition Training Prototype Using Performance Metrics With Eye-Tracking Data

Despite the increased use of sensor technologies, including unmanned vehicles, the vast majority of improvised explosive device (IED) detections are made by human vision. Thus, TRAC-Monterey developed a simulation-based training prototype called the perceptual learning trainer (PLT). Fourteen novice and 5 expert IED detectors participated in human-in-the-loop experiments in which all participants were trained using the PLT tool while their eye-movement and IED detection performance were tracked in real-time. A series of 100 IED images with various degrees of difficulty was used for the training session. Pre- and posttraining assessments were conducted. Both speed and accuracy improved after just 1 session of the PLT training: RT decreased by 3.7 s for novices (p < .001) and 3.4 s for experts (p = .031), and detection probability increased by 5.9% for novices (p = .001). The PLT tool improved IED detection performance more in novice IED detectors than in experts. Novices and experts showed different visual scan patterns.     

You may look unhappy unless you smile: The distinctiveness of a smiling face against faces without an explicit smile

An expressionless face is often perceived as rude whereas a smiling face is considered as hospitable. Repetitive exposure to such perceptions may have developed stereotype of categorizing an expressionless face as expressing negative emotion. To test this idea, we displayed a search array where the target was an expressionless face and the distractors were either smiling or frowning faces. We manipulated set size. Search reaction times were delayed with frowning distractors. Delays became more evident as the set size increased. We also devised a short-term comparison task where participants compared two sequential sets of expressionless, smiling, and frowning faces. Detection of an expression change across the sets was highly inaccurate when the change was made between frowning and expressionless face. These results indicate that subjects were confused with expressed emotions on frowning and expressionless faces, suggesting that it is difficult to distinguish expressionless face from frowning faces.     

Definition of Financial Abuse: A Culture-Centered Construct among Korean Elders

One of the critical issues in addressing financial abuse in Korea is the absence of an appropriate definition voiced by the elderly. This study is designed to explore how Korean elders define financial abuse in given social and cultural contexts. Face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted with 124 elders, aged 60 to 79, residing in Korea. The results of qualitative data analysis using grounded theory revealed that a vast majorty of Korean elderly respondents defined financial abuse as lack of provision of financial support to elder parents, and a small portion of respondents defined it as financial exploitation by adult children. The definition of financial abuse reflects cultural beliefs based on filial piety about financial expectations within the parent–child relationship. Education on financial abuse for both elders and their adult children and establishment of income support programs are urgently needed efforts to increase the financial well-being of elderly Koreans.