Effects of Alternative Outcome Scenarios and Structured Outcome Evaluation on Case-Based Ethics Instruction

Case-based instruction has been regarded by many as a viable alternative to traditional lecture-based education and training. However, little is known about how case-based training techniques impact training effectiveness. This study examined the effects of two such techniques: (a) presentation of alternative outcome scenarios to a case, and (b) conducting a structured outcome evaluation. Consistent with the hypotheses, results indicate that presentation of alternative outcome scenarios reduced knowledge acquisition, reduced sensemaking and ethical decision-making strategy use, and reduced decision ethicality. Conducting a structured outcome evaluation had no impact on these outcomes. Results indicate that those who use case-based instruction should take care to use clear, less complex cases with only a singular outcome if they are seeking these types of outcomes.     

Examining college students' food security coping strategies and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

College students' food situations may have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have affected their health and well-being. However, little is known about how the pandemic impacted students' food experiences and how students coped with food-related disruptions, particularly from the student's own perspective. This study reviews data from 571 undergraduates who attended public colleges during Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 and wrote a narrative about the pandemic's impact on their food experiences. Most students indicated they experienced a wide range of food difficulties and adapted new food practices. Despite these challenges, students emphasized proactive coping strategies and positive pandemic outcomes rather than difficulties and negative outcomes. These findings have implications for students' long-term health and well-being.     

Can Pragmatists be Institutionalists? John Dewey Joins the Non-ideal/Ideal Theory Debate

During the 1960s and 1970s, institutionalists and behavioralists in the discipline of political science argued over the legitimacy of the institutional approach to political inquiry. In the discipline of philosophy, a similar debate concerning institutions has never taken place. Yet, a growing number of philosophers are now working out the institutional implications of political ideas in what has become known as “non-ideal theory.” My thesis is two-fold: (1) pragmatism and institutionalism are compatible and (2) non-ideal theorists, following the example of pragmatists, can avoid a similar debate as took place between institutionalists and behavioralists by divulging their assumptions about institutions.     

The effects of implicit anxiety on the performance of skin self‐examinations

This study examined the effects of implicit anxiety on the performance of skin self‐examinations. It was hypothesized that implicit anxiety would contribute to the prediction of skin self‐examinations beyond the contributions of variables suggested by social‐cognitive models of health behavior. In addition, it was hypothesized that implicit anxiety's impact on self‐examinations would not be influenced by deliberative cognition about efficacy. To test these hypotheses, 128 participants completed measures of explicit anxiety, self and task efficacy, and an implicit associations test designed to measure implicit anxiety. As expected, self‐examination behavior was better predicted when implicit anxiety was added to models containing explicit anxiety and efficacy. Furthermore, thoughts about efficacy did not moderate the effects of implicit anxiety on self‐examination behavior.     

Three Aristotelian Accounts of Disease and Disability

The question of whether medical and psychiatric judgements involve a normative or evaluative component has been a source of wide and vehement disagreement. But among those who think such a component is involved, there is considerable further disagreement as to its nature. In this article, I consider several versions of Aristotelian normativism, as propounded by Christopher Megone, Michael Thompson and Philippa Foot, and Martha Nussbaum. The first two, I claim, can be persuasively rebutted by different modes of liberal pluralist challenge — respectively, pluralism about structures of social organisation and pluralism about biological forms. Nussbaum's version, by contrast, is alert to the need for pluralism; I argue, however, that the Aristotelian aspects of her theory hamper her pursuit of those pluralistic aims.     

Responding to persons with mental illnesses: police perspectives on specialized and traditional practices

Persons with mental illnesses increasingly come into contact with police in the community due to changes in local and national policies and police responsibility for maintaining order. Recently, specialized intervention strategies have been advanced to ensure that persons with mental illnesses are not inappropriately arrested and moved into the criminal justice system. This study builds on previous research undertaken on police perceptions of dealing with persons with mental illnesses in the community and effectiveness of response (see Borum et al., 1998). A subsample of 182 officers from the Newark, NJ, Police Department was surveyed and added to a sample of 452 officers from three agencies with specialized responses to persons with mental illnesses. The authors conclude that, despite a non-specialized response to this population, the actual and perceived effectiveness of Newark's strategy is similar to (and in some cases better than) that which is observed in the agencies with specialized response programs. Implications for implementing specialized responses for persons with mental illnesses are discussed.     

Preliminary evaluation of a 10-wk. resistance and cardiovascular exercise protocol on physiological and psychological measures for a sample of older women

A preliminary 10-wk. study was conducted to determine the effect a combined strength and cardiovascular exercise protocol had on both physiological and psychological change in 17 older (M age = 66.8 yr.), formerly sedentary women. The protocol was associated with better adherence than typically found for new and returning exercisers. Significant improvements over 10 wk. were found on Body Mass Index, body fat, resting heart rate, and balance. Significant, positive changes in mean ratings were also found on Physical Self-concept, Total Mood Disturbance, Depression, and Fatigue (small to moderate treatment effect sizes). Although no significant changes were found for rated Tension, Vigor, Anger, and Confusion, mean changes were in the desired direction and rated Tension showed a moderate effect size. The need for replication, including a control group and follow-up, plus continued research on exercise protocols both well-tolerated and effective for older individuals and other specific groups, were discussed.     

Defensive copers show a deficit in passive avoidance learning on Newman's go/no-go task: implications for self-deception and socialization

The present study investigated whether passive avoidance learning was retarded by defensive coping strategies designed to minimize exposure to negatively valenced stimuli. High-anxious individuals, low-anxious individuals, and defensive copers completed a computerized go/no-go task, in which they learned when to press or not to press a button, in response to contingent positive and negative feedback. The duration that feedback remained onscreen was self-regulated. Defensive copers showed preferential reflection away from negative feedback, committed more passive-avoidance errors, and were characterized by impaired learning, overall. Further, the ratio of reflection on negative feedback to reflection on positive feedback directly mediated both passive-avoidance errors and overall learning. Defensive coping strategies, therefore, appear to interfere with passive avoidance learning, thereby fostering perseverative, dysfunctional action patterns by reducing knowledge gained from previous mistakes. Implications for the learning of effective socialization strategies, and for psychopathy-which is commonly characterized by similar passive-avoidance deficits-are subsequently considered.