Modern health worries – the dark side of spirituality?

Modern health worries (MHWs) are widespread in modern societies. MHWs were connected to both negative and positive psychological characteristics in previous studies. The study aimed to investigate the relationships among intuitive‐experiential information processing style, spirituality, MHWs, and psychological well‐being. Members of the Hungarian Skeptic Society (N = 128), individuals committed to astrology (N = 601), and people from a non‐representative community sample (N = 554) completed questionnaires assessing intuitive‐experiential information processing style, spirituality, modern health worries (MHWs), and psychological well‐being. Astrologers showed higher levels of spirituality, intuitive‐experiential thinking, and modern health worries than individuals from the community sample; and skeptics scored even lower than the latter group with respect to all three constructs. Within the community sample, medium level connections between measures of spirituality and the experiential thinking style, and weak to medium level correlations between spirituality and MHWs were found. The connection between MHWs and experiential thinking style was completely mediated by spirituality. Individuals with higher levels of spirituality are particularly vulnerable to overgeneralized messages on health related risks. Official communication of potential risks based on rational scientific reasoning is not appropriate to persuade them as it has no impact on the intuitive‐experiential system.     

Fitts' Law is Applicable to Trunk Coordination Measurements in a Sitting Position

Trunk coordination is essential for many activities of daily living in wheelchair users. This study investigated whether Fitts' law is applicable to trunk movements in a sitting position. Fourteen healthy adults performed two series of 24 tasks of trunk flexion–extension movements in a sitting position. The results showed significant linear relationships between average group movement time (MT) and index of difficulty (ID) over all tasks (r² = 0.92) and within target distances (0.94 < r² < 1.00). Target distance affected intercept and slope (P < 0.001). Hence, Fitts' law is applicable to the studied trunk movements in a sitting position, indicating these trunk movements tasks could serve as a basis for qualitative trunk coordination tests. Transferability of these conclusions to wheelchair users, and optimal test design should be further investigated.     

On the examination couch: the relationship between the egocentric perspective and the attentional focus

Determined by anatomical characteristics, the binocular visual field has an elliptical shape. Whereas the focus of attention – that area of the visual field in which objects can be consciously perceived – is significantly smaller, its shape is not necessarily dependent on the same factors. Indeed, it is yet unknown if the maximum extents of the attentional focus’ meridians are dimensionally stable or adapt to the egocentric perspective. In this study, we intended to measure the expansion up to which peripheral stimuli can still be perceived while participants were sitting and lying on the left and on the right body side. Results demonstrate that contrary to the visual field the maximum extents along the attentional focus’ meridians remain stable across different head positions with a greater horizontal than vertical alignment. This indicates that the expansion ratios of the meridians of the attentional focus are not dependent on the egocentric perspective. Rather, they appear stable in space and gravity-based. Findings are discussed in terms of our visual environment and current as well as alternative interpretations are weighed against each other.     

Child-Oriented or Parent-Oriented Focused Intervention: Which is the Better Way to Decrease Children’s Externalizing Behaviors?

Research has tried to identify risk factors that increase the likelihood of difficulties with externalizing behavior. The relations between individual or environmental factors and externalizing behavior have been especially documented. Child-oriented and parent-oriented interventions have been designed in order to decrease externalizing behavior in preschoolers. To date, however, research has largely been compartmentalized. It is therefore not known whether child-oriented or parent-oriented intervention is more effective in reducing externalizing behavior. The aim of the current study was to answer this question by comparing two 8-week child with two 8-week parent-oriented group programs sharing a common experimental design. This was done in a pseudo-randomized trial conducted with 73 3–6-year-old children displaying clinically relevant levels of externalizing behavior who were assigned to one of the four interventions and 20 control participants who were allocated to a waiting list. The results indicate that the four programs focusing on a specific target variable, i.e., social cognition, inhibition, parental self-efficacy beliefs, or parental verbal responsiveness, are all effective in reducing externalizing behavior among preschoolers. Their effectiveness was moderated neither by their orientation toward the child or the parent nor by their content, suggesting that several effective solutions exist to improve behavioral adaptation in preschoolers. A second important highlight of this study is that, thanks to comparable effect sizes, brief focused programs appear to be a reasonable alternative to long multimodal programs, and may be more cost-effective for children and their families.     

What Values in Design? The Challenge of Incorporating Moral Values into Design

Recently, there is increased attention to the integration of moral values into the conception, design, and development of emerging IT. The most reviewed approach for this purpose in ethics and technology so far is Value-Sensitive Design (VSD). This article considers VSD as the prime candidate for implementing normative considerations into design. Its methodology is considered from a conceptual, analytical, normative perspective. The focus here is on the suitability of VSD for integrating moral values into the design of technologies in a way that joins in with an analytical perspective on ethics of technology. Despite its promising character, it turns out that VSD falls short in several respects: (1) VSD does not have a clear methodology for identifying stakeholders, (2) the integration of empirical methods with conceptual research within the methodology of VSD is obscure, (3) VSD runs the risk of committing the naturalistic fallacy when using empirical knowledge for implementing values in design, (4) the concept of values, as well as their realization, is left undetermined and (5) VSD lacks a complimentary or explicit ethical theory for dealing with value trade-offs. For the normative evaluation of a technology, I claim that an explicit and justified ethical starting point or principle is required. Moreover, explicit attention should be given to the value aims and assumptions of a particular design. The criteria of adequacy for such an approach or methodology follow from the evaluation of VSD as the prime candidate for implementing moral values in design.     

Complexity in object manipulation by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata): a cross-sectional analysis of manual coordination in stone handling patterns

Defined as a spontaneous stone-directed noninstrumental manipulative behavior, and comprised of multiple one-handed and (a)symmetrical/(un)coordinated two-handed patterns, stone handling (SH) is a good candidate for the study of complexity in object manipulation. We present a cross-sectional developmental analysis of SH complexity in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), through the combined investigation of bimanuality, coordination, and symmetry in hand use. Bimanual SH patterns were more frequent than unimanual patterns. Among bimanual patterns, coordinated actions were more frequent than uncoordinated ones. We recorded five asymmetrical coordinated SH patterns with manual role differentiation, a form of hand use reminiscent of complex actions involving the use of tools in monkeys and apes. Bimanuality in SH was affected by body posture. Aging individuals performed less bimanual and less coordinated SH patterns than younger individuals. Our result on senescent males performing less bimanual patterns than senescent females was consistent with sex differences found in the late deterioration of complex manual movements in other species. Although some SH patterns represent a high degree of behavioral complexity, our results suggest that SH behavior is not as complex as tool-use or tool-manufacture in other nonhuman primates and hominids.     

解决“乙肝”问题亟须“四化”

乙型病毒性肝炎是一个严重的社会问题,而不是简单的医患之间的医疗和接受医疗的问题,它涉及到医疗机构、制药厂家以及社会、家庭、婚姻、就业等很多问题。要想从根本上解决乙型病毒性肝炎所带来的诸多问题需要全社会共同努力,形成一种“社会监督法制化、诊疗方案规范化、社会关爱人性化、具体施治个性化”的格局。     

超常儿童实验班的建立——关于学生筛选的研究

本研究根据鉴别超常儿童要采取多指标、多途径、多种方法以及与常态儿童进行动态比较的原则探讨了对超常儿童实验班的筛选方法。先由教师和家长推荐,再用八项测查指标综合考察。并设立了同龄对比班。为今后大范围筛选超常儿童作了有效的尝试。同时.对超常儿童认知能力特点、学业成绩、教师评价、家庭背景等方面作了分析研究。     

新疆维吾尔、哈萨克、回族519名男青年试用EPQ问卷的初步报告

本文报告以维吾尔(简称维)、哈萨克(简称哈)、汉语EPQ问卷对新疆维、哈、回族519名16～29岁男青年的测查结果。表明EPQ各量表间相关情况和总趋势与英国、龚氏常模相似,P量表分均为最低;L量表分与龚氏常模一样均为最高。维、哈族个性特征显著外倾,尤以哈族突出。提出民族的历史发展、社会文化传统、劳动生活方式等因素是形成维、哈族个性特征的基础,认为龚氏常模及其划界分需进一步修订和完善。