A Quantum Biomechanical Basis for Near-Death Life Reviews

Near-death life reviews pose a challenge to current memory research in terms of the sheer amount of instantaneous and empathetic information recall. Advances in quantum physics, biomechanics, holographic information theory, and consciousness studies support for the first time a fully realizable quantum biomechanical basis for near-death life reviews. We introduce the unifying paradigm of the quantum hologram as a non-local carrier of information. We further investigate the interrelated phenomena of non-local communications, and the electromagnetic zero-point field. Recent confirmation of the zero-point field lends credibility to vast memory storage capabilities outside the physical body. Microtubules are considered to be key components in non-local, quantum processes critical to human consciousness. Discovery of the liquid crystalline nature of the human body provides further support for our model. Microtubules, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and the entire brain are described as communicating non-locally with virtually unlimited memory storage capacity.     

Improving judgement with prepaid expert advice

Decision makers (“Judges”) often make decisions after obtaining advice from an Advisor. The two parties often share a psychological “contract” about what each contributes in expertise to the decision and receives in monetary outcomes from it. In a laboratory experiment, we varied Advisor Experitise and the opportunity for monetary rewards. As expected, these manipulations influenced advice quality, advice taking, and Judge post‐advice decision quality. The main contribution of the study, however, was the manipulation of the timing of monetary rewards (before or after the advising interaction). We found, as predicted, that committing money for expert—but not novice—advice increases Judges' use of advice and their subsequent estimation accuracy. Implications for advice giving and taking are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychosocial Factors Associated With Stage of Change for Contraceptive Use Among Women at Increased Risk for HIV and STDs

This study assessed the psychosocial factors associated with contraceptive use among inner-city women at risk for HIV/STDs by using the transtheoretical model of behavior change. The five-city study group of women aged 15 to 34 years was recruited from neighborhoods, social service agencies and shelters ( n = 998). We measured stages of change for contraceptive use and assessed theoretically proposed factors associated with being at a higher stage. Variables such as perceived advantages of contraceptive use and normative support for use were very important at early stages, but less important in later stages. However, self-efficacy was important in both early (OR =1.5) and later (OR = 1.6) stages, suggesting that women's confidence in their ability to initiate and sustain contraceptive use is crucial.     

The evidential status of philosophical intuition

Philosophers have traditionally held that claims about necessities and possibilities are to be evaluated by consulting our philosophical intuitions; that is, those peculiarly compelling deliverances about possibilities that arise from a serious and reflective attempt to conceive of counterexamples to these claims. But many contemporary philosophers, particularly naturalists, argue that intuitions of this sort are unreliable, citing examples of once-intuitive, but now abandoned, philosophical theses, as well as recent psychological studies that seem to establish the general fallibility of intuition. In the first two sections of this paper, I evaluate these arguments, and also the counter-arguments of contemporary defenders of tradition. In the next two sections, I sketch an alternative account of the role of philosophical intuitions that incorporates elements of traditionalism and naturalism - and defend it against other such views. In the final section, however, I discuss intuitions about conscious experience, and acknowledge that my view may not extend comfortably to this case. This may seem unfortunate, since so much contemporary discussion of the epistemology of modality seems motivated by worries about the mind-body problem, and informed by the position one wishes to endorse. But, as I argue, if conscious experience is indeed an exception to the view I suggest in this paper, it is an exception that proves - and can illuminate - the rule.     

Outcome of aggression affects processing and can legitimise subsequent aggression: Influence of trait aggressiveness

The present study investigated differences in processing times between positive and negative outcomes to an aggressive reaction to provocation. The effects of outcome, sex, trait aggressiveness and current mood on subsequent subject‐generated material were also examined. Fifty subjects read stories line by line on a computer screen. Reading time for the key sentence describing a positive or negative outcome to an aggressive reaction to provocation was recorded and subjects wrote a continuing sentence to half the stories. Subjects took less time to process the negative outcome. The positive outcome resulted in more subject‐generated aggression than the negative outcome. There were few sex differences but men wrote more aggressive endings than women for the stories containing physical aggression. Trait aggressiveness was correlated with producing more aggressive content in the continuing sentence for both outcomes. Feeling peaceful was correlated with producing prosocial material to neutral stories. Subjects therefore expect a negative outcome to aggressive behaviour. Reading stories which present a positive outcome to aggression increases the accessibility of aggressive cognitions. Subjects high in trait aggressiveness are not inhibited by a negative outcome. Aggr. Behav. 30:284–297, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Links between attachment theory and systemic practice: some proposals

This paper considers some of the current thinking in relation to attachment theory and systemic theory in understanding the development of adult couple relationships in terms of their attachment to each other and of their adaptations as a family. There is an increasing interest in adults' attachments to their own parental (attachment) figures, how these have an impact on the attachment relationship they have with their own children, and to the idea that adult partners can become attachment figures for each other with the potential for development being lifelong. Discussion focuses on attachment issues within the family group and the relevance of these to systemic practice.     

Modifications to basic functional analysis procedures in school settings: a selective review

This review describes applied behavioral research involving functional analyses conducted in public school settings. Functional analyses in public school settings often require added conditions. The modified conditions described herein include changes to experimental designs, antecedent changes that include task variation, tasks included, idiosyncratic variables, physiological conditions, and modified escape conditions. Finally, consequent modifications cover peer attention, tangibles, varied attention, and altered escape. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Voluntary action alters the perception of visual illusions

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - “Intentional binding” refers to the finding that people judge voluntary actions and their effects as having occurred closer together in time...     

Reporting discrimination in public and private contexts.

The authors tested the hypothesis that members of stigmatized groups would be unwilling to report that negative events that occur to them are the result of discrimination when they are in the presence of members of a nonstigmatized group. Supporting this hypothesis, women and African Americans were more likely to report that a failing grade assigned by a man or a European American was caused by discrimination, rather than by their own lack of ability, when they made the judgment privately and in the presence of a fellow stigmatized group member. However, they were more likely to indicate that the cause of the failure was lack of ability, rather than discrimination, when they expected to make these judgments aloud in the presence of a nonstigmatized group member.     

Qualitative Evaluation of Medical Information Processing Needs of 60 Women Choosing Ovarian Cancer Surveillance or Prophylactic Oophorectomy

Thirty women who had prophylactic oophorectomy (PO) and thirty women undergoing ovarian cancer surveillance (OCS) completed a one-time in-depth telephone interview exploring information gathering and decision-making processes. There were close similarities between groups, including age, race, marital status, education, menopausal status, number undergoing genetic testing for BRCA mutations, and number of prophylactic mastectomies. The majority of participants indicated overall satisfaction with their final decision. However, many described the information gathering process as frustrating and anxiety provoking. Participants in both groups expressed a need to process medical information within the context of individual psychosocial needs and personal perceptions and experiences. There were recurrent themes with regard to informational and psychosocial needs and personal perceptions and experiences that impacted decision-making process for these women. The present paper is a companion paper to Swisher et al. (J Repr Med 2001, 46:87–94) with the focus of this paper to illustrate the medical informational processing needs identified by this group of women.