Searching for the Self: An Identity Control Theory Approach to Triggers of Occupational Exploration

Identity control theory researchers have found evidence for two processes of identity development (identity defense and identity change) and have theorized a third process (identity exploration). College students (N = 123) self-rated as high or low in occupational identity certainty and importance received self-discrepant feedback to induce identity disturbance, and dependent measures of identity defense, identity change, and identity exploration were obtained. As predicted, high certainty about identity standards led to identity defense, while low certainty led to identity change. Although an interaction between certainty and importance was hypothesized to predict identity exploration, results showed that the two operated independently. Low certainty predicted exploration of additional occupational areas, whereas high importance predicted exploration of self, environment, and additional occupational areas.     

The ability to tap to a beat relates to cognitive,linguistic, and perceptual skills

Reading-impaired children have difficulty tapping to a beat. Here we tested whether this relationship between reading ability and synchronized tapping holds in typically-developing adolescents. We also hypothesized that tapping relates to two other abilities. First, since auditory-motor synchronization requires monitoring of the relationship between motor output and auditory input, we predicted that subjects better able to tap to the beat would perform better on attention tests. Second, since auditory-motor synchronization requires fine temporal precision within the auditory system for the extraction of a sound’s onset time, we predicted that subjects better able to tap to the beat would be less affected by backward masking, a measure of temporal precision within the auditory system. As predicted, tapping performance related to reading, attention, and backward masking. These results motivate future research investigating whether beat synchronization training can improve not only reading ability, but potentially executive function and auditory processing as well.     

Positive maternal interaction behavior moderates the relation between maternal anxiety and infant regulatory problems

Regulatory problems in infancy are determined by different risk factors. This study aims to examine how psychosocial risk factors are connected, and how they impact the early regulatory ability of 3-month-old infants. In a sample of 57 mother–infant dyads, maternal anxiety and infant crying, sleeping and feeding habits were assessed. As a possible moderator, the role of positive maternal behavior was analyzed by videotaping face-to-face interactions. During the interaction, interactive stress was provoked with the face-to-face still-face paradigm (FFSF). Thus, this study differentiated between the effects of maternal behavior in both an ordinary play context, as well as a stressful interaction context. Results revealed that the relation between maternal anxiety and infant regulatory problems in crying and sleeping varied as a function of positive maternal engagement in stressful situations. However, a significant moderation effect influencing infant feeding problems could not be demonstrated. These findings stress the importance of positive maternal interaction behavior in at least some parts of regulatory adjustment of at-risk infants.     

Knowledge in the information society

The German Council for Research, Technology and Innovation defines the “information society” as a type of society where the acquirement, storage, processing, exchange, diffusion and utilization of knowledge inclusive of their technological possibilities of interactive communication, here become increasingly important. In this notion, knowledge has become the decisive factor for economic growth and technological advance. As a social scientist I transform the term “information society” into processes of automatization of knowledge, which is called its informatization and computerization. It is argued that these processes affect the societal condition of knowledge in that the part of knowledge relating to the contents diminishes while the importance of the technical and/or formal part increases. In contrast to the claim of many social scientists, this trend does not lead to a superficial or shallow type of knowledge. What is changing is the social requirement of professional skills and qualifications. The great looming question about information society then is: Which knowledge do people need to behave competently, effectively and successfully in a world full of computers? The structure of this article is as follows. First I will have a look at the micro‐level of the composition of knowledge, next I will proceed to the historical shift from subject‐specific knowledge to media‐competence and finally I will talk about the meaning of the evolving dominance of—what I will call “media‐competent experts”.     

The cognitive regulation of emotions: The role of success versus failure experience and coping dispositions

Attention deployment and generating specific types of cognitions are central cognitive mechanisms of emotion regulation. Two groups of hypotheses make contradicting predictions about the emotion-cognition relationship. The moodcongruency hypothesis expects the emergence of mood-congruent cognitions (i.e., negative mood leads to negative and positive mood to positive cognitions). Similarly, a substantial body of research suggests that negative mood induces selffocus, whereas positive mood elicits an external focus of attention. The moodrepair hypothesis, on the other hand, assumes that persons in a negative mood state summon thoughts incongruent with that state and divert attention away from the self. However, the temporal sequence of cognitions assessed as well as coping dispositions, such as vigilance and cognitive avoidance, may moderate these relationships. Positive and negative emotional states were elicited by exposing the participants to the experience of success or failure in a demanding cognitive task. Cognitions that were present after emotion induction were assessed by means of a thought-listing procedure. For the total sample, results clearly confirmed the moodcongruency hypothesis. Thought order was a critical factor only for changes in self-focus. Thought valence (positive, neutral, negative) as well as self-focus were substantially influenced by coping dispositions.     

Women–Focused Treatment Agencies and Process Improvement: Strategies to Increase Client Engagement

Behavioral health treatment agencies often struggle to keep clients engaged in treatment. Women clients often have additional factors such as family responsibilities, financial difficulties, or abuse histories that provide extra challenges to remaining in care. As part of a national initiative, four women-focused drug treatment agencies used process improvement to address treatment engagement. Interviews and focus groups with staff assessed the nature and extent of interventions. Women-focused drug treatment agencies selected relational-based interventions to engage clients in treatment and improved four-week treatment retention from 66% to 76%. Process improvement interventions in women-focused treatment may be useful to improve engagement.     

Inhibition and working memory in young preschool children with symptoms of ADHD and/or oppositional-defiant disorder

Background: Early symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) are associated with deficits in cognitive self-regulatory processes or executive functions (EF)s. However, the hypothesis that neurocognitive deficits underlying the two disorders are already evident during early preschool years still has limited empirical support. The present study investigated associations between symptoms of ADHD and/or ODD and two core EFs, inhibition and working memory, in a large nonclinical sample of 3-year old children. Method: Participants were 1045 children (554 boys, age 37–47 months), recruited from the population based Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Relations between behavioral symptoms and measures of inhibition and working memory were studied both categorically and dimensionally. Results: Children with co-occurring symptoms of ADHD and ODD performed at a significantly lower level than typically developing children in 4 out of 5 EF measures. Symptoms of ADHD, both alone and in combination with ODD, were associated with reduced performance on tests of inhibition in the group comparisons. Dimensional analyses showed that performance within both EF domains contributed to variance primarily in ADHD symptom load. The associations between test results and behavioral symptoms remained significant after gender and verbal skills had been controlled. Conclusion: Young preschoolers show the same pattern of relations between EF and behavioral symptoms of ADHD and/or ODD as previously described in older children diagnosed with ADHD and/or ODD. Effect sizes were generally small, indicating that measures of EF have limited clinical utility at this stage in development.     

右美托咪定在高血压眼科患者术中复合降压的临床研究

为了观察右美托咪定在球后神经阻滞麻醉下高血压眼科手术患者中降压的可行性及其效果,选择择期眼科手术的高血压患者40例,随机分为2组[右美托咪定复合硝酸甘油组(D组)和单纯硝酸甘油组(N组)],每组20例.记录患者术前、术中及手术结束时的MAP、SBP、DBP、HR、SpO2及Ramsay评分,同时统计硝酸甘油及右美托咪定用量.结果发现,两组基础MAP、SBP、DBP、HR、SpO2差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05),两组降压程度无统计学意义(P＞0.05).组内及组间HR差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).D组较N组硝酸甘油用量明显减少(P＜0.05).因此右美托咪定可在高血压眼科手术患者中达到较好的镇静及降压效果.     

中医药知识产权保护的路径选择

以专利制度为首的现行知识产权体系无法全面保护中医药知识产权,尤其是中医药传统知识产权,根本原因在于其宗旨与中医药的传承性相悖.印度等国确立了传统知识产权保护模式并取得了一定成就.我国应当参考借鉴,探索一套传统知识产权保护体系,制定并完善中医药传统知识产权登记制度、来源披露制度和许可使用制度,全面保障中医药知识产权.     

医学人文教育的关怀哲学基点探究

医学人文教育固然以提倡患者的自主存在性突破了医学技术主义形态,但若对患者自主地位的过度强调则会使其陷入二律背反的困境,于此之上的关怀哲学探究则把患者视为处于具体情境中的特殊他人,如此便能建立并维持医学人文情境中的医患和谐。透过耕犁"以患者自主为核心的医学教育限度"、"以关怀为始点的医学哲学诠解"与"关怀哲学在医学人文中的教育张力"三重意涵来突显关怀哲学在医学人文教育中的本位复归,期使医学教育能够透过关怀哲学的融汇从而在医疗临床过程中达成其效力显现的人文基点。