The role of philosophy and ethics at the edges of medicine

Background

The purpose of this study is to make a philosophical argument against the phenomenological critique of standardization in clinical ethics. We used the context of clinical ethics in Saudi Arabia to demonstrate the importance of credentialing clinical ethicists.

Methods

Philosophical methods of argumentation and conceptual analysis were used.

Results

We found the phenomenological critique of standardization to be flawed because it relies on a series of false dichotomies.

Conclusions

We concluded that the phenomenological framing of the credentialing debate relies upon two extreme views to be navigated between, not chosen among, in the credentialing of clinical ethicists.

     

Halo effects from agency behaviors and communion behaviors depend on social context: Why technicians benefit more from showing tidiness than nurses do

We investigate halo effects from agency behaviors and communion behaviors in different social contexts. According to the salient dimension model, attributes elicit halo effects on the ratings of other, unrelated attributes when they are relevant in a situation. Given that communion behaviors are more relevant in social and care‐related jobs, they should elicit stronger halo effects than agency behaviors in this context. In the context of scientific and technical jobs, this difference should be weakened or even reversed. Three experiments support the predicted interaction of context and behavior on halo effects. This interaction was stronger for negative than for positive behaviors. These results have implications for understanding the basic processes of halo effects as well as their real‐world effects in job‐related contexts.     

Socio-technical communication: The hybrid space and the OLB model for science-based cyber education

Lessons from safety-critical sociotechnical systems, such as aviation and acute medical care, demonstrate the importance of the human factor and highlight the crucial role of efficient communication between human agents. Although a large proportion of fatal incidents in aviation have been linked to failures in communication, cognitive engineering provides the theoretical framework to mitigate risks and increase performance in sociotechnical systems not only in the civil sector, but also in the military domain. Conducting cyber operations in multidomain battles presents new challenges for military training and education as the increased importance of psychological factors such as metacognitive skills and perspective-taking both in lower and higher ranking staff, becomes more apparent. The Hybrid Space framework (Jøsok et al., 2016) provides a blueprint for describing the cognitive and behavioral constraints for maneuvering between socio-technical and cyber-physical systems whilst cooperating, coordinating or competing with accompanying cognitive styles in the chain of command. We apply the Hybrid Space framework to communicative challenges in the military cyber domain and suggest a three-phase Orienting, Locating, Bridging model for safe and efficient communication between partners. Based on the educational principles of the Norwegian Defence Cyber Academy, we discuss the required skill-sets and knowledge in which cyber officer cadets are trained and taught early in their education, and how these refer to the theoretical framework of the Hybrid Space and the key principles of communication as defined in cognitive engineering.     

Sensation seeking as a predictor of psychopathology in Danish soldiers deployed to Afghanistan

Identifying methods that enable prediction of psychopathology that results from military service is crucial for individual and mission readiness, and for postdeployment mental health. In the present study, we investigate the relationship between sensation seeking (SS) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and between SS and depression. Data from 743 Danish soldiers deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 were collected 6 times: before deployment, during deployment, 1–3 weeks after homecoming, 2 months after homecoming, 7 months after homecoming, and 2.5 years after homecoming. In this study, we did not find a relationship between SS and PTSD, or between SS and depression. The present study does not support previous findings that link SS with psychopathology. The structural environment in the military setting, the extent of exposure and type of stressful situations may play a moderating role. More extreme environments, such as imprisonment and torture, may favor different expressions of SS. Further research should include other factors such as context and the extent and type of traumatic exposure in relation to SS.     

No seasonality in cognitive performance among adolescents at a subarctic latitude (69°N)

Seasonal changes in daylight are substantial in subarctic areas and are known to affect circadian sleep rhythms. We examined whether seasonality in cognitive performance also exists and to what extent seasonality in sleep moderates this relationship. In the city of Tromsø (Norway) at 69°N, 182 adolescents (36% male; mean age 16.8 years) participated in a prospective study. The cognitive measures included verbal and visual memory, verbal learning, psychomotor speed, and problem solving, whereas sleep and sleep‐related problems were recorded via weekly sleep diaries and questionnaires. The results indicated no effect of season on any of the cognitive tests. Seasonality in sleep timing, insomnia, and fatigue were confirmed; however, these variables did not modify the null correlation between season and cognition. The lack of seasonality in cognition is a positive finding and serves to undermine myths about the burdens of living in subarctic areas with substantial seasonal changes in daylight.     

“One Doesn’t Slap a Girl but…” Social Representations and Conditional Logics in Legitimization of Intimate Partner Violence

The present research, which fits into the conceptual framework of social representations, aims to analyze the impact of gender and legitimizing ideologies on the evaluation of intimate partner violence (IPV). Using an inductive mixed methods approach, two studies were conducted in a French context. In Study 1, 24 participants were asked to express their views about a vignette describing an IPV case during semi-structured interviews. In Study 2, 123 participants completed a questionnaire which was based on the results of Study 1. They were asked to evaluate the severity and justification for this same IPV case in relation to several situations identified in interviews. They also completed two scales measuring adherence to ideologies legitimizing male dominance: the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory and the Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale. Results show expressed ambivalence by participants between condemnation of IPV and the use of conditional logics in order to minimize or justify it. The expression of this reasoning was determined by social regulations such as the situations in which the violence occurred and adherence to legitimizing ideologies. Our results are relevant for campaigns raising awareness and educational programs that take into account social representations underlying IPV legitimization.     

Exposure Quality in Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Youth Anxiety Disorders—Predictors and Associations with Outcomes

Journal of Child and Family Studies - To optimize cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) outcomes for anxiety disorders in youth, more knowledge is needed about how specific CBT components work....     

The Contribution of Sex to Quality of Life in Modern Societies

Sexual behavior is a core activity not only for our genes, but also for individual happiness. It is therefore important to assess how this aspect of life functions in industrialized nations. Adopting the idea that society should aim at maximizing happiness, the question is whether the present situation is optimal, or if we should strive toward cultural changes that may improve the impact of sex. Sex is associated with some of the strongest rewards the brain has to offer, and consequently should serve to improve quality of life. There are, however, numerous pitfalls in that sex easily elicits negative emotions. Certain aspects of sexuality may reflect what is referred to as a ‘disease of modernity’; that is, the present environment is causing an increase in the prevalence of sex-related misery. The text use both an evolutionary and a bioecological perspective to understand human behavior. Biological (nature) and ecological (environment or nurture) factors are considered in order to assess how to improve the impact of sex on quality of life.

     

Selectivity in probabilistic causality: Where psychology runs into quantum physics

Given a set of several inputs into a system (e.g., independent variables characterizing stimuli) and a set of several stochastically non-independent outputs (e.g., random variables describing different aspects of responses), how can one determine, for each of the outputs, which of the inputs it is influenced by? The problem has applications ranging from modeling pairwise comparisons to reconstructing mental processing architectures to conjoint testing. A necessary and sufficient condition for a given pattern of selective influences is provided by the Joint Distribution Criterion, according to which the problem of “what influences what” is equivalent to that of the existence of a joint distribution for a certain set of random variables. For inputs and outputs with finite sets of values this criterion translates into a test of consistency of a certain system of linear equations and inequalities (Linear Feasibility Test) which can be performed by means of linear programming. While new in the behavioral context, both this test and the Joint Distribution Criterion on which it is based have been previously proposed in quantum physics, in dealing with generalizations of Bell inequalities for the quantum entanglement problem. The parallels between this problem and that of selective influences in behavioral sciences are established by observing that noncommuting measurements in quantum physics are mutually exclusive and can therefore be treated as different levels of one and the same factor.     

From origami to software development: a review of studies on judgment-based predictions of performance time

This article provides an integrative review of the literature on judgment-based predictions of performance time, often described as task duration predictions in psychology and as expert-based effort estimation in engineering and management science. We summarize results on the characteristics of performance time predictions, processes and strategies, the influence of task characteristics and contextual factors, and the relations between estimates and characteristics of the estimator. Although dependent on the type of study and the level of analysis, underestimation was more frequently reported than overestimation in studies from the engineering and management literature. However, this was not the case in studies from the psychology literature. Our summaries challenge earlier results regarding the effects of factors such as complexity/difficulty and experience. We also question the recurrent finding that small tasks are overestimated and large tasks are underestimated, as this to some extent can be a statistical artifact caused by random error. Several other influences on predictions are identified and discussed. These include various types of anchoring effects, performance and accuracy incentives, task decomposition, request formats, group estimation, revisions of initial ideal or incomplete estimates, level of abstraction, and superficial cues. We summarize similarities and differences between performance time predictions (e.g., number of work hours) and completion time predictions (e.g., delivery dates) because many studies fail to distinguish between these 2 types of predictions. Finally, we discuss methodological issues in time prediction research and implications for research and application.