Practical Implementation Science: Developing and Piloting the Quality Implementation Tool

According to the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation, implementation is a major mechanism and concern in bridging research and practice. The growing number of implementation frameworks need to be synthesized and translated so that the science and practice of quality implementation can be furthered. In this article, we: (1) use the synthesis of frameworks developed by Meyers et al. (Am J Commun Psychol, 2012) and translate the results into a practical implementation science tool to use for improving quality of implementation (i.e., the Quality Implementation Tool; QIT), and (2) present some of the benefits and limitations of the tool by describing how the QIT was implemented in two different pilot projects. We discuss how the QIT can be used to guide collaborative planning, monitoring, and evaluation of how an innovation is implemented.     

Using a Training-of-Trainers Approach and Proactive Technical Assistance to Bring Evidence Based Programs to Scale: An Operationalization of the Interactive Systems Framework’s Support System

Bringing evidence based programs to scale was a major initial impetus for the development of the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF). The ISF demonstrates the importance of the Support System in facilitating the uptake of innovations in the community (the Delivery System). Two strategies that members of the Support System commonly use are training‐of‐trainers (TOT) models and technical assistance (TA). In this article, we focus on the role of the Support System in bringing evidence‐based programs (EBPs) to scale in the Delivery System using a case example, with special attention on two strategies employed by Support Systems—training‐of‐trainers (TOT) and proactive technical assistance. We then report on findings from a case example from the Promoting Science Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention project that furthers our conceptualization of these strategies and the evidence base for them. We also report on the limitations in the literature regarding research on TOTs and proactive TA and provide suggestions for future research on TOTs and proactive TA that will enhance the science and practice of support in the ISF. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

Dopamine regulation of human speech and bird song: a critical review

To understand the neural basis of human speech control, extensive research has been done using a variety of methodologies in a range of experimental models. Nevertheless, several critical questions about learned vocal motor control still remain open. One of them is the mechanism(s) by which neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, modulate speech and song production. In this review, we bring together the two fields of investigations of dopamine action on voice control in humans and songbirds, who share similar behavioral and neural mechanisms for speech and song production. While human studies investigating the role of dopamine in speech control are limited to reports in neurological patients, research on dopaminergic modulation of bird song control has recently expanded our views on how this system might be organized. We discuss the parallels between bird song and human speech from the perspective of dopaminergic control as well as outline important differences between these species.     

Courtship, competition, and the pursuit of attractiveness: mating goals facilitate health-related risk taking and strategic risk suppression in women

Two experiments explored the possibility that specific health risks observed among young women may be influenced by attractiveness-enhancement goals associated with mating. Study 1 (n=257) demonstrated that priming women with intersexual courtship and intrasexual competition increased their willingness to go tanning and take dangerous diet pills. Study 2 (n=148) conceptually replicated these results and revealed that increased willingness to take these risks is mediated by diminished feelings of vulnerability to the negative health effects associated with these behaviors when mating goals are salient. Findings provide evidence that mating goals play a role in the continued popularity of these dangerous behaviors in women. Furthermore, the current results bridge the existing gap between health belief and self-presentational models of risk behaviors to yield novel insights into the psychology of risk taking.     

Scaling space with the mirror illusion: The influence of body plasticity on perceived affordances

How do body representations influence decisions about action? We developed a novel paradigm using the mirror illusion (Holmes, Crozier, & Spence, in Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 4, 193–200, 2004) to examine two ways of evoking body plasticity—extension of body capabilities and visual capture—and its influence on perceived affordances. In two experiments, we manipulated the action capabilities of a seen left hand by lengthening the arm with a rod (Exp. 1) or enlarging the hand with a glove (Exp. 2). The right hand was unaltered physically and was occluded by placement in a mirror box. We induced visual capture through synchronous finger movements of both hands. Right-hand estimates of reaching and of fitting through apertures increased relative to actual capabilities during visual capture, supporting the claim that visual capture can induce the incorporation of an apparent body extension into action decisions. The results suggest that both perceptual and cognitive influences on bodily awareness underlie perceived affordances.     

Feminism and Sex Trafficking: Rethinking Some Aspects of Autonomy and Paternalism

This paper argues that potential cases of oppression, such as sex trafficking, can sometimes comprise autonomous choices by the trafficked individuals. This issue still divides radical from liberal feminists, with the former wanting to ‘rescue’ the ‘victims’ and the latter insisting that there might be good reasons for ‘hiding from the rescuers.’ This article presents new arguments for the liberal approach and raises two demands: first, help organizations should be run by affected women and be open-minded about whether or not the trafficked individuals should remain in the sex industry. Second, the career choices of trafficked individuals should be expanded by the introduction of an opportunity-extending right to asylum.     

Impaired semantic memory during acute transient global amnesia

As a clinical model of hippocampal dysfunction, transient global amnesia (TGA) causes reversible memory disturbance. While episodic memory deficits in TGA patients have been extensively described, data regarding semantic memory involvement are sparse and contradictory. We report impaired semantic fluency performance in 16 patients with hippocampal lesions on MRI during acute TGA compared to their performance one day later and to that of 20 healthy subjects. Our findings support the involvement of the hippocampus in semantic retrieval.     

Economics Imperialism and Epistemic Cosmopolitanism

The standard view on economics imperialism is that it should be resisted when it is epistemically or morally harmful. I argue that the moral dimension of economics imperialism is in need of further analysis. In my view, economics imperialism is wrong when imperialists violate the epistemic responsibility they have towards scientists working in the discipline that is the target for imperialist explorations. By epistemic responsibility, I refer to a moral duty to justify one’s knowledge claims to a particular audience so that the justification appeals to at least some of the standards of argumentation recognized by that audience.