Evaluating Arguments from a Play about Ethics in Science: A Study with Medical Learners

Developing critical thinking ability is one of the main goals of medical education, in part because it enhances clinical reasoning, a vital competence in clinical practice. However, there is limited evidence suggesting ways to effectively teach critical thinking in the classroom. Here, we describe the use of a drama-based critical thinking classroom scenario. The study used a mixed-methods approach with both quantitative and qualitative analysis of questionnaire responses. Ninety-one medical students (56 females; 35 males; ages 16–30 years) in Colombia were asked to identify and evaluate arguments regarding a dilemma between ethics, social responsibility and scientific work presented in the play Should’ve by the Nobel laureate Roald Hoffmann. Chi square analyses of responses to closed-ended questions showed that the drama-based classroom scenario provided learners with opportunities to make decisions, and to identify and evaluate arguments from the play. Qualitative analysis of responses to open-ended questions confirmed these findings and illustrated the processes underlying the decisions. Students were able to evaluate arguments in an impartial way. Our findings support the use of drama-based scenarios in the classroom as an approach to fostering medical students’ critical thinking. This approach could contribute to a classroom pedagogy in which all students have an active role in responding to controversial questions, evaluating arguments and critically responding. This would support the development of critical thinking and promote deeper understanding of the dilemmas involved in scientific work.     

Effect of stress on a cognitive autopoietic system

A cognitive autopoietic system is a dynamic, self-generating, organized and self-organizing thing which self-regulates (by internal rearrangement) with respect to an external medium. The present model of the effect of stress on a cognitive autopoietic (ESCA) system captures the notion of how a priori cognitive structures (categories), combined with external sensations, constitute the basis for the development of cognitive structures (CS) and their architecture. The ESCA model integrates the fact that the mind–environment relation has a twofold effect: on one hand, it enables self-regulation of mind (the matching of external sensations with CS), but on the other hand, it poses a potential perturbation on the same, which may result in the breakdown of the self-regulation of mind. The architecture of the CS developed on the basis of the ESCA model is consistent with the manifestations of the effect of stress on mind behavior at different levels. The ESCA model predicts that the faculty to concatenate synthetic propositions, which enables enhanced categorical conscious cognition (ECCC) on the basis of CS, is inhibited by stress, thus reducing cognition to a mechanized heuristic categorical conscious cognition (HCCC) and/or an unconscious cognition (UC) level. The ESCA model explains the casual relation between cognition of persistent social stress and self-esteem, sensory deprivation and self-cognition, a mechanized mind state and accumulated stress, and the effect of stress activated short-term emotions on cognition. Finally, it is speculated how persistently perceived uncertainty may induce stress.     

Parent-Child Endorsement Discrepancies among Youth at Chronic-Risk for Depression

Depression is one of the most common mental health problems among U.S. adolescents, particularly among Latinos. Parent-child ratings of the presence and severity of child depressive symptoms show only low-to-moderate agreement. However, research has failed to examine discrepancies in populations with the highest levels of unmet need and little is known about patterns and predictors of parent-child agreement in ratings of depressive symptoms among ethnic minority families in community settings. Using a sample of 184 low-income, predominantly Latino, 5th through 7th grade students (63.6% female) at chronic risk for depression, this study utilized exploratory Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to uncover patterns of parent-child endorsement of core diagnostic depressive symptoms. Overall, children reported higher levels of core (i.e., depressed mood, anhedonia, irritability) and secondary (e.g., sleep disturbances) depressive symptoms relative to their parents. The three latent classes identified include a low endorsement and high agreement class (LH), high endorsement and high agreement class (HH), and high child endorsement and low agreement class (HCL). Multinomial regression models revealed that previous mental health service use and higher externalizing problems were associated with HH class membership, relative to HCL class membership. Findings provide evidence that a substantial number of children may have depressive symptoms that go undetected by their parents. Access to services among children at-risk for depression may be increased with psychoeducation to improve parental awareness and stigma reduction.     

Arrows don’t look at you: Qualitatively different attentional mechanisms triggered by gaze and arrows

Eye gaze conveys rich information concerning the states of mind of others, playing a critical role in social interactions, signaling internal states, and guiding others’ attention. On the basis of its social significance, some researchers have proposed that eye gaze may represent a unique attentional stimulus. However, contrary to this notion, the majority of the literature has shown indistinguishable attentional effects when eye gaze and arrows have been used as cues. Taking a different approach, in this study we aimed at finding qualitative attentional differences between gazes and arrows when they were used as targets instead of as cues. We used a spatial Stroop task, in which participants were required to identify the direction of eyes or arrows presented to the left or the right of a fixation point. The results showed that the two types of stimuli led to opposite spatial interference effects, with arrows producing faster reaction times when the stimulus direction was congruent with the stimulus position (a typical spatial Stroop effect), and eye gaze producing faster reaction times when it was incongruent (a “reversed” spatial Stroop effect). This reversed Stroop is interpreted as an eye-contact effect, therefore revealing the unique nature of eyes as special social-attention stimuli.     

A self-efficacy enhancing intervention for pulmonary rehabilitation based on motivational interviewing for postoperative lung cancers patients: modeling and randomized exploratory trial

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a self-efficacy enhancing intervention designed for pulmonary rehabilitation based on motivational interviewing (MI) for postsurgical non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. This study was a 2-arm pilot randomized controlled trial and was conducted in two cardiothoracic surgery departments, a tertiary hospital in Fuzhou, China. 28 postsurgical NSCLC patients were randomized to a 3 month (6 session) self-efficacy enhancing intervention based on MI or usual care (UC). Data were measured at baseline and after intervention. The MI based self-efficacy enhancing intervention group was superior to the UC group for reducing anxiety and depression, improving self-efficacy, quality of life, confrontational coping, social support and functional capacity. However, no statistically significant difference was observed in subjective well-being, posttraumatic growth, body mass index and pulmonary function between the two groups. This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of MI based self-efficacy enhancing intervention for postsurgical NSCLC patients. A larger randomized trial would demonstrate a more rigorous test of efficacy.     

Is a bad will a weak will? Cognitive dispositions modulate folk attributions of weakness of will

In line with recent efforts to empirically study the folk concept of weakness of will, we examine two issues in this paper: (1) How is weakness of will attribution (WWA) influenced by an agent’s violations of best judgment and/or resolution, and by the moral valence of the agent’s action? (2) Do any of these influences depend on the cognitive dispositions of the judging individual? We implemented a factorial 2?×?2?×?2 between-subjects design with judgment violation, resolution violation, and action valence as independent variables, and measured participants’ cognitive dispositions using Frederick’s Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). We conclude that intuitive and reflective individuals have two different concepts of weakness of will. The study supports this claim by showing that: (1) the WWA of intuitive subjects is influenced by the action’s (and probably also the commitment’s) moral valence, while the WWA of reflective subjects is not; (2) judgment violation plays a small role in the WWA of intuitive subjects, while reflective subjects treat resolution violation as the only relevant trait. Data were collected among students at two different universities. All subjects (N?=?710) answered the CRT. A three-way ANOVA was first conducted on the whole sample and then on the intuitive and reflective groups separately. This study suggests that differences in cognitive dispositions can significantly impact the folk understanding of philosophical concepts and thus suggests that analysis of folk concepts should take cognitive dispositions into account.     

Effects of belief in luck on the attractiveness of loyalty programmes

The aim of this article is to demonstrate that the perception of belief in luck affects loyalty programmes, causing people making cognitive (affective) choices to feel more (less) attracted. To validate our hypotheses, we conducted 3 related experiments (2 laboratory tests and 1 in the field). We found that the perception of belief in luck (bad or good) affects the relationship between loyalty programmes and attractiveness (Study 1). We study this effect considering the mechanisms of points‐pressure and rewarded behaviour. Thereafter, we established that cognitive (affective) decisions promoted an increase (decrease) in attractiveness when consumers were exposed to continuous loyalty programmes because their belief in luck was lower (Studies 2 and 3). We believe that these changes occur because the consumer's belief in luck masks the uncertainty in the decision‐making process.     

Is regulatory focus related to minimal and maximal standards? Depends on how you ask!

Regulatory focus theory suggests that hopes and aspirations (promotion focus) function like maximal goals, whereas duties and responsibilities (prevention focus) function like minimal goals. However, past research has not always reliably found such a link between regulatory focus and maximal–minimal goals or standards. In the present research, we hypothesised that this inconsistency can be explained, at least in part, by conceptual differences resulting in the use of different, specific wording. In four studies, we compared wording in terms of the relative magnitude of the goals to wording in terms of their absolute versus gradual perception. Results showed that regulatory focus (manipulated or measured) consistently relates to maximal versus minimal standards framed as goals of different magnitudes, but not to the goals framed according to an absolute–gradual perception. Implication of the results for regulatory focus research is discussed.     

The impact of education on intergenerational occupational mobility in Spain

Intergenerational occupational mobility is a topic that has attracted considerable interest in the sociological and economic literature for developed countries. In particular, one of the central issues in political debate is the role of education on the intergenerational social mobility. The modern capitalist economies are characterised by continual technological changes which lead to the need of a highly skilled workforce. In this potentially meritocratic society, the equality of opportunities, the efficient allocation of talent and the education can be instruments that encourage the social mobility and decrease the effect of the parents' economic status on the career of their children. This paper takes into account these facts and sheds empirical evidence for Spain about the relationships between social origin, educational attainment and occupational destination. The methodology applied consists of the specification and estimation of discrete choice models, and the empirical analysis is based on data provided by the Living Condition Survey (LCS) conducted for the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE).     

Is Synthesis of World Religions Possible?

Introduction

All major religions appear to follow a pattern of social contract with an additional feature of ‘termination of the contract’ and its ‘aftermath’, for the soul. This way, religion is known as ‘dissolution mechanism’ (DM). It contains both social and metaphysical terms, where the former is subsidiary to the latter. The metaphysical term is represented by the mokṣa. A given DM not only explicates the state of soul after the termination of contract, but also it endeavours to point out the nature of the ultimate reality it conceives.

Method

DM provides a geometrical/mathematical picture of the universe to locate the ultimate reality and the individual souls in it; three views of the universe—destruction, creation and sustenance—are obtained for three basic religions or thoughts. Buddhist ‘Nothingness’ forms the psychological background for these views of universe. Architectural designs of worship places, yantras or manḍalas, etc., show both the nature of universe and the location of the ultimate in it. Understanding these figures is the key method to be employed for arriving at synthesis.

Conclusion

Synthesis consists in noting the identical common metaphysical generic essence as running through all the religions, and identifying the unique specific root-essence on such a generic essence. Specific root-essence of a given DM consists in the way the unification of cognitions of the universe is carried out. When the unification of all the specific root-essences on the generic essence is carried out with a further psychological background of Buddhism, we get a specimen of metaphysical synthesis of world religions. Thus, synthesis is a distinct and sure possibility.