On the advancement and software support of decision‐making in focused ultrasound therapy

Focused ultrasound therapy (FUS) is a modern and promising way for minimally invasive cancer treatment. Recent advances in treatment technology, bio‐physical models, and numerical simulation methods have given rise to a significant curative potential. However, clinical routine of FUS still features classical planning approaches, which widely fail in exploiting this potential. The structure of FUS planning problems strongly suggests interactive multi‐criteria decision‐making concepts in order to improve treatment quality. This research work introduces an multi‐criteria decision‐making approach to FUS planning and explains how to bridge the conceptual gap between the clinical state of the art and this new planning paradigm.     

When does reading dirty words impede picture processing? Taboo interference with verbal and manual responses

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Picture naming takes longer in the presence of socially inappropriate (taboo) distractor words compared with neutral distractor words. Previous studies have...     

Actively open-minded thinking: development of a shortened scale and disentangling attitudes towards knowledge and people

Actively open-minded thinking (AOT) is often used as a proxy for reflective thinking in research on reasoning and related fields. It is associated with less biased reasoning in many types of tasks. However, few studies have examined its psychometric properties and criterion validity. We developed a shortened, 17-item version of the AOT for quicker administration. AOT17 is highly correlated with the original 41-item scale and has highly similar relationships to other thinking dispositions, social competence and supernatural beliefs. Our analyses revealed that the AOT is not a unitary construct, but comprises four distinct dimensions, some of which concern attitudes towards knowledge, and others concern attitudes towards people. This factor structure was replicated in another data-set, and correlations with other measures in four data-sets (total N = 3345) support the criterion validity of these dimensions. Different dimensions were responsible for the AOT's relationships with other thinking dispositions.     

Angry faces are tracked more easily than neutral faces during multiple identity tracking

We investigated whether and how emotional facial expressions affect sustained attention in face tracking. In a multiple-identity and object tracking paradigm, participants tracked multiple target faces that continuously moved around together with several distractor faces, and subsequently reported where each target face had moved to. The emotional expression (angry, happy, and neutral) of the target and distractor faces was manipulated. Tracking performance was better when the target faces were angry rather than neutral, whereas angry distractor faces did not affect tracking. The effect persisted when the angry faces were presented upside-down and when surface features of the faces were irrelevant to the ongoing task. There was only suggestive and weak evidence for a facilitatory effect of happy targets and a distraction effect of happy distractors in comparison to neutral faces. The results show that angry expressions on the target faces can facilitate sustained attention on the targets via increased vigilance, yet this effect likely depends on both emotional information and visual features of the angry faces.     

Ethics in Peer Review of Academic Journal Articles as Perceived by Authors in the Educational Sciences

This research examined the experiences of authors of academic journal articles in the educational sector of all eight universities in Finland. The ethical principles of peer review and best and worst review processes were in focus. Data were gathered by electronic questionnaire, which was completed by 121 respondents who represented well the heterogeneity of the staff in the educational sector. Out of nine ethical principles honesty, constructiveness, and impartiality were appreciated but promptness, balance, and diplomacy were criticized. According to two open questions, a third of authors praised and blamed reviewers as experts and non-experts. The accuracy of feedback was more often present in the best rather than in the worst experienced review processes. Journals’ editors and their decision-making called forth more negative than positive accounts. The results were discussed in the context of ethical codes for reviewers and researchers’ findings regarding the ethical responsibilities to promote good science with thorough, appropriate, and honest feedback and feedforward.     

A perpetual state of almost

Mr. B came to analysis describing what he called a perpetual state of almost, a feeling of almost living, both intrapsychically and intersubjectively. The perpetual state of Almost is a state in-between presence with the Other and absence from the Other. It is a state in-between a sense of self, and an absence of self. This paper proposes a deeper understanding of the defensive, insulating structure of this in-between gap, examining what enabled it to change from a static, inert state into a transient, fluid one, oscillating between states of presence and absence as a vehicle for transformation.     

A situated process model of vocational achievement goal striving within members of the academic staff at university

Building on achievement goal approach and self-determination theory (SDT), we propose a concise process model of achievement goal striving within academic staff members working at universities. We investigate this model in a sample of 107 academic staff members, who we questioned twice a day over the course of 2 weeks resulting in 1653 measurement occasions. Using two-level structural equation modeling, we found that substantial amounts of variance in situated achievement goals could be attributed to personal goal orientations. Life aspirations indirectly predicted the general strength of situated achievement goal striving via personal goal orientations. Finally, the situational satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness was differentially predictive for fluctuations in situated achievement goal striving, which in turn predicted situational intrinsic work motivation and work engagement. Our research ties achievement goal approach more closely to SDT and delivers a first outlook on the importance of working conditions in academia for goal setting processes and vocational motivation.     

Applying phenomenography in guidance and counselling research

This paper examines phenomenography as a viable qualitative approach in guidance and counselling research. A phenomenographic study maps the qualitatively different ways in which people experience a specific phenomenon and helps researchers to describe the aspects that make one way of experiencing a certain phenomenon qualitatively distinct from another. This paper presents an overview of phenomenographic research, encompassing theoretical, methodological and practical considerations. The application of this approach in guidance and counselling studies is illustrated with examples.