Expertise and peripheral autonomic activity during the preparation phase in shooting events

This study compared effectiveness of the concentration period in two groups of shooters to evaluate the influence of their expertise while concentrating on the target. Marksmen (pistol shooters, 10 men and 5 women) and pentathletes (6 men and 7 women) took part in a shooting competition in keeping with the rules of each event. Participants were then asked to imagine themselves shooting, at the laboratory. Five variables representing the activity of the autonomic nervous system were continuously recorded (skin resistance and potential, skin blood flow, skin temperature, instantaneous heart rate). Autonomic responses recorded during concentration, actual shooting, and mental imagery were compared by calculating the ratios concentration/ shooting and imagery/shooting. The resultant mean ratio was used to characterize each participant. The same autonomic nervous system pattern was observed during concentrating on the target, mental imagery, and actual shooting. However, marksmen showed ratios closer to 1.0 than pentathletes, absolute mean differences being .06 and .3, respectively. Shorter duration and weakest amplitude responses were recorded during the concentration phase in the Pentathlete group, suggesting that they have more difficulty in using mental imagery during competition than marksmen. When subjects performed well, a specific response pattern was observed in the Marksman group, but not in the Pentathlete group, except in skin potential. In both Marksman and Pentathlete groups, a majority of negative skin potential responses were found in the concentration and shooting phases for the best shots.     

A Model of Jury Decisions where all Jurors have the same Evidence

Under the independence and competence assumptions of Condorcet’s classical jury model, the probability of a correct majority decision converges to certainty as the jury size increases, a seemingly unrealistic result. Using Bayesian networks, we argue that the model’s independence assumption requires that the state of the world (guilty or not guilty) is the latest common cause of all jurors’ votes. But often – arguably in all courtroom cases and in many expert panels – the latest such common cause is a shared ‘body of evidence’ observed by the jurors. In the corresponding Bayesian network, the votes are direct descendants not of the state of the world, but of the body of evidence, which in turn is a direct descendant of the state of the world. We develop a model of jury decisions based on this Bayesian network. Our model permits the possibility of misleading evidence, even for a maximally competent observer, which cannot easily be accommodated in the classical model. We prove that (i) the probability of a correct majority verdict converges to the probability that the body of evidence is not misleading, a value typically below 1; (ii) depending on the required threshold of ‘no reasonable doubt’, it may be impossible, even in an arbitrarily large jury, to establish guilt of a defendant ‘beyond any reasonable doubt’.     

A Generalized Proof-Theoretic Approach to Logical Argumentation Based on Hypersequents

Studia Logica - In this paper we introduce hypersequent-based frameworks for the modelling of defeasible reasoning by means of logic-based argumentation and the induced entailment relations. These...     

The 10th Oxbridge varsity medical ethics debate-should we fear the rise of direct-to-consumer genetic testing?

In an increasingly data-driven age of medicine, do companies that offer genetic testing directly to patients represent an important part of personalising care, or a dangerous threat to privacy? Should we celebrate this new mechanism of patient involvement, or fear its implications?The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge addressed these issues in the 10th annual Medical Ethics Varsity Debate, through the motion: “This House Regrets the Rise of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing”. This article summarises and extends key arguments made in the debate, exploring the impacts of such genetic testing on both the individual patient and broader society, with special consideration as to whether companies can ever truly guarantee anonymity of genetic data.     

The Moderating Roles of Perceived Task Interdependence and Team Size in Transformational Leadership’s Relation to Team Identification: A Dimensional Analysis

This study is aimed at investigating perceived task interdependence and team size as contingencies for team leaders’ transformational leadership influence on team identification. Data were obtained from a two-phase survey among 234 employees from ten multinational pharmaceutical subsidiaries in South Korea. Each dimension of transformational leadership by team leaders relates positively to team identification. However, the impact of leadership dimensions on team identification is attenuated by distinct moderator(s): charisma by higher perceived task interdependence, individualized consideration by larger team size, and intellectual stimulation by higher perceived task interdependence or larger team size. This study’s findings help us develop a more nuanced understanding of how transformational leadership operates. This study illustrates that team leaders’ transformational influence on team identification fluctuates, depending on the team structure. Such knowledge may help inform team leader development and team-structuring strategies used by practitioners and may contribute to improving organizational team effectiveness. This is one of the first studies showing evidence that the influence of the dimensions of transformational leadership is contingent upon distinct moderators, thereby contributing to advancing the theory of transformational leadership. Further, this study, by investigating team structure as a contingency of the transformational leadership-team identification relationship, complements previous research that focused on follower characteristics. Additionally, our explicit attention to the team as both the context of leaders’ action and the target of employee identification helps us gain a more concrete understanding of team leadership and team development issues, which are particularly salient in the highly competitive pharmaceutical industry.     

Six-year-olds' perception of home literacy environment and its influence on children's literacy enjoyment,frequency, and early literacy skills

Home literacy environment (HLE) makes an important contribution to children's reading acquisition in early years. Even though some research on children's perception exists, children's reports about HLE have been neglected. The present study focuses on N = 281 six-year-old's reports about HLE and its influences on literacy enjoyment, frequency, and early literacy skills. Parents' educational background was expected to predict children-perceived HLE. A positive impact of active HLE on literacy enjoyment and frequency were found. HLE also mediates the relation between parents' background and enjoyment. The importance of children's perspective on HLE regarding family literacy programs is discussed.     

Vernacularizing Jñāndev: Hagiography and the Process of Vernacularization

The process of vernacularization involves more than literary language, but also invokes social ethics and an investment in the idioms of everyday life. Vernacularization can reach beyond texts to enact its force upon biographies as well, altering the ethics and quotidian memory of sacred figures. The paper examines how texts and biographical memory identified with the medieval Marathi “saint” (sant) Jñāndev (about thirteenth century) underwent a process of vernacularization that altered the social ethics of texts associated with Jñāndev and with the public memory of the saint himself. In particular, issues of caste and gender as subjects of the process of vernacularization are discussed, and especially in the context of producing bhakti publics—social spheres of devotion—that merge with the Vārkarī religious tradition in Maharashtra.     

Creative Thinking in an Emotional Context: Specific Relevance of Executive Control of Emotion-Laden Representations in the Inventiveness in Generating Alternative Appraisals of Negative Events

Although divergent thinking ability in different domains may largely rely on the same basic executive functions, domain-specific functions may also be important, in particular when it comes to more real-life creativity demands. This study investigated if functional executive control of emotion-laden representations may be specifically relevant in cognitive reappraisal, which implies being creative in an affective context. In a sample of 88 healthy individuals, the relation between the participants’ inventiveness in generating positive reappraisals of adverse events (Reappraisal Inventiveness Test) and in generating novel ideas without emotional component (conventional divergent thinking test) to their executive functioning in tasks without (Mittenecker Pointing Test) and with emotional contribution (humor processing task) was studied. In line with hybrid models of creative thinking, poorer basic inhibition skills were found to be associated with poorer fluency performance in both divergent thinking tasks. Relations applied more specifically to reappraisal inventiveness when it came to executive processes with a more prominent emotional component. Creative performance in both tasks may have been hampered by time limits. The results support the notion that, in addition to basic executive functioning, more specific cognitive control functions are implicated in more real-life creative performance, according to related domain-specific demands.     

The Best Possible Selves Intervention: A Review of the Literature to Evaluate Efficacy and Guide Future Research

Since its inception in 2001, the best possible selves (BPS) activity has been the focus of more than 30 studies which have shown it to be a viable intervention for increasing optimism, positive affect, health and well-being. It is timely to critically review the findings from the BPS literature and suggest directions for future research. The majority of BPS studies have used an experimental methodology and have administered the BPS activity to diverse groups including students, adults, depressive individuals and suicidal inpatients. The BPS intervention can be effective when administered in-person or on-line and repeating the activity appears to enhance efficacy. Suggestions for future research include: (a) investigation of mediator variables, (b) additional outcome variables such as hope and appreciation, (c) comparative studies regarding dosage to enhance effectiveness, (d) extension of the BPS into a best-possible-other activity, (e) diversity of delivery methods, and (f) thematic content analysis of BPS text.     

A New Look at Celebrity Endorsements in Politics: Investigating the Impact of Scandalous Celebrity Endorsers and Politicians’ Best Responses

When a celebrity receives negative news coverage, his or her endorsements of politicians can pose negative consequences for the politicians. We investigated such negative consequences with the help of two experimental studies. In Study 1 (celebrity involved in tax scandal), we manipulated whether an endorsement was initiated by a politician or a celebrity (i.e., controllability) in a 2 × 2 between-subject experiment. We also manipulated politicians’ responses (i.e., no response vs. response). Study 2 was a conceptual replication of the first experiment (celebrity involved in a real estate scandal). Results of Study 1 revealed that politicians are perceived to be more in control of self-initiated endorsements than other-initiated ones. Perceived controllability, in turn, influenced feelings of anger and pity, eventually affecting voting intentions. For self-initiated endorsements, no response appears to be the best reaction. By contrast, public response is advised when the endorsement was initiated by another entity. Results were replicated in Study 2. However, particular responses of a political candidate revealed no influences in connection with a real estate scandal. We explain our findings by applying the theory of planned behavior, attribution theory, and situational crisis communication theory.