Asylum Seekers,Hotspot Approach and Anti-Social Policy Responses in Greece (2015–2017)

This article discusses the social and housing conditions of refugee flows to Greece in the period 2015–2017. A review of the main institutional initiatives taken by the Greek state to manage the refugee crisis, following pressure from the EU, indicates that the main form of accommodation for asylum seekers is the hotspot. In the second part of the article, field research seeks to examine the fundamental social problems encountered in the hotspots. Inappropriate housing conditions, problematic hotspot management procedures, as well as onerous working conditions for the staff are only some of the issues, which make it clear that such forms of accommodation violate fundamental human rights.     

The Relationships Between Athletes’ Perceptions of Coach-Created Motivational Climate,Self-Talk,and Self-Efficacy in Youth Soccer

The purpose of this study was to explore the mediating role of self-talk in the relationship between athletes’ perceptions of coach-created motivational climate and athletes’ self-efficacy. Two hundred eighty-nine youth soccer players (M = 11.63 years, SD = 1.55 years) completed the Automatic Self-Talk Questionnaire for Sport, the Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire, and a self-efficacy measure for soccer. The results showed that only positive and not negative self-talk mediated the relationship between empowering motivational climate and self-efficacy, whereas no relationship emerged between disempowering climate and self-efficacy, highlighting the role of self-talk explaining this relationship.     

Motion as input: a functional explanation of movement effects on cognitive processes

Motion is often thought of as the result of perceptual and higher cognitive processes. Although this idea has been investigated in myriad ways, the understanding of how movements tune cognitive processes is still in its infancy. The present study examined the nonaffective tuning of movements (arm extension and arm flexion) on heuristic and systematic processes. In a departure from recent cognitive tuning models, a model was derived that defines the tuning effect based on the movement goal and not on the movement position. In the experiment, participants moved toward an extension or flexion position with a movement goal which connected the movement with either an avoidance or an approach function. Analysis indicated that cognitive tuning is a product of the movement goal rather than the movement position. Implications for models of motor control as well as for cognitive tuning models are presented.     

Effects of mental workload and caffeine on catecholamines and blood pressure compared to performance variations

Caffeine is characterised as a central nervous system stimulant, also affecting metabolic and cardiovascular functions. A number of studies have demonstrated an effect of caffeine on the excretion of catecholamines and their metabolites. Urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine have been shown to increase after caffeine administration. Similar trends were observed in our study in adrenaline (ADR) and noradrenaline (NORADR) levels and additionally a dose dependent effect of caffeine. The effect of caffeine on cognitive performance, blood pressure, and catecholamines was tested under resting conditions and under mental workload. Each subject performed the test after oral administration of 1 cup and then 3 cups of coffee. Root mean square error (RMSE) for the tracking task was continuously monitored. Blood pressure was also recorded before and after each stage of the experiment. Catecholamines were collected and measured for three different conditions as: at rest, after mental stress alone, after one dose of caffeine under stress, and after triple dose of caffeine under stress. Comparison of the performance of each stage with the resting conditions revealed statistically significant differences between group of smokers/coffee drinkers compared with the other two groups of non-coffee drinkers/non-smokers and non-smokers/coffee drinkers. There was no statistically significant difference between the last two groups. There was an increase of urine adrenaline with 1 cup of coffee and statistically significant increase of urine noradrenaline. Both catecholamines were significantly increased with triple dose of caffeine. Mental workload increased catecholamines. There was a dose dependent effect of caffeine on catecholamines.     

Effects of Implementation Intentions Linking Suppression of Alcohol Consumption to Socializing Goals on Alcohol‐Related Decisions

This article investigates the effects of implementation intentions that connect the suppression of alcohol consumption to socializing goals on the decision to accept an offer of a free alcoholic drink. Participants were university students (N = 48) who were randomly assigned to an implementation intention condition or a control condition. The results show that participants who formed implementation intentions were less likely to accept the offer of a free alcoholic drink than were participants who did not form implementation intentions. In addition, the results demonstrate that the implementation intention effect held among habitual alcohol drinkers. The results of the present study suggest that implementation exercises can successfully suppress habitual alcohol consumption.     

Unhealthy weight control behaviours in adolescent girls: a process model based on self-determination theory

This study used self-determination theory (Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2000). The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268.) to examine predictors of body image concerns and unhealthy weight control behaviours in a sample of 350 Greek adolescent girls. A process model was tested which proposed that perceptions of parental autonomy support and two life goals (health and image) would predict adolescents’ degree of satisfaction of their basic psychological needs. In turn, psychological need satisfaction was hypothesised to negatively predict body image concerns (i.e. drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction) and, indirectly, unhealthy weight control behaviours. The predictions of the model were largely supported indicating that parental autonomy support and adaptive life goals can indirectly impact upon the extent to which female adolescents engage in unhealthy weight control behaviours via facilitating the latter's psychological need satisfaction.     

Seek,and You Will Find: The Influence of Expectations on Evaluations of Physical Activity

Despite hundreds of studies on the effects of expectations on evaluations, few commentaries have focused on summarising the relevance of these findings for physical activity pursuits. Moreover, a parsimonious framework on the nature of these relationships in physical activity is yet to be developed. Such a framework is important given the significance of physical activity evaluations in predicting future physical activity participation. Based on existing models on persuasion, it is premised that the self can be persuaded by one's own expectations about physical activity and that such persuasion can support or refute those expectations. Which of these effects are created, and the extent of one's psychological and physical involvement in the creation of physical activity evaluations, is likely to hinge on motivation and ability to confirm or disconfirm expectations. Evidence from related bodies of literature is presented to support the primary tenets of the model, which is termed the expectation‐to‐evaluation model, and recommendations for practitioners and future research are offered.     

Bodily and temporal pre-reflective self-awareness

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences -