Master resilience training in the U.S. Army

The U.S. Army Master Resilience Trainer (MRT) course, which provides face-to-face resilience training, is one of the foundational pillars of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program. The 10-day MRT course is the foundation for training resilience skills to sergeants and for teaching sergeants how to teach these skills to their soldiers. The curriculum is based on materials developed by the University of Pennsylvania, the Penn Resilience Program (PRP), and other empirically validated work in the field of positive psychology. This "train the trainer model" is the main vehicle for the dissemination of MRT concepts to the entire force.     

Effects of a violation of an expected increase or decrease in intensity on detection of change within an auditory pattern

An infrequent physical increase in the intensity of an auditory stimulus relative to an already loud frequently occurring “standard” is processed differently than an equally perceptible physical decrease in intensity. This may be because a physical increment results in increased activation in two different systems, a transient and a change detector system (signalling detection of an increase in transient energy and a change from the past, respectively). By contrast, a decrease in intensity results in increased activation in only the change detector system. The major question asked by the present study was whether a psychological (rather than a physical) increment would continue to be processed differently than a psychological decrement when both stimuli activated only the change detector system. Participants were presented with a sequence of 1000 Hz tones that followed a standard rule-based alternating high-low intensity pattern (LHLHLH). They were asked to watch a silent video and thus ignore the auditory stimuli. A rare “deviant” was created by repeating one of the stimuli (e.g., LHLHLLLH. The repetition of the high intensity stimulus thus acted as a relative, psychological increment compared to what the rule would have predicted (the low intensity); the repetition of the low intensity stimulus acted as a relative, psychological decrement compared to what the rule would have predicted (the high intensity). In different conditions, the intensity difference between the low and high intensity tones was either 3, 9 or 27 dB. A large MMN was elicited only when the separation between the low and high intensities was 27 dB. Importantly, this MMN peaked significantly earlier and its amplitude was significantly larger following presentation of the psychological increment. Thus, a deviant representing an increment in intensity relative to what would be predicted by the auditory past is processed differently than a deviant representing a decrement, even when activation of the transient detector system is controlled. The psychological increment did not however elicit a later positivity, the P3a, often thought to reflect the interruption of the central executive and a forced switching of attention.     

Critical Inquiry: Considering the Context

In this paper we discuss the relevance of considering context for critical thinking. We argue that critical thinking is best viewed in terms of ‘critical inquiry’ in which argumentation is seen as a way of arriving at reasoned judgments on complex issues. This is a dialectical process involving the comparative weighing of a variety of contending positions and arguments. Using the model which we have developed for teaching critical thinking as critical inquiry, we demonstrate the role played by the following aspects of context: (1) knowledge of the dialectical context (the debate around an issue, both current and historical); (2) an understanding of the current state of practice and belief surrounding an issue; (3) an understanding of the intellectual, political, historical and social contexts in which an issue is embedded; (4) knowledge of the relevant disciplinary context; (5) information about the sources of an argument; (6) awareness of one’s own beliefs and biases.     

古老的未来:科学、传统中医和生态

目前生态危机已成为全球瞩目的问题。解决生态危机有三种方法:(1)尝试逐个解决各种具体危机;(2)从理论上对技术和晚期现代资本主义进行批判;(3)根本改变理解和看待自然的范式。量子力学和混沌理论等当代科学理论对自然的描绘与中国传统哲学(老子)和中医有着意想不到的相似之处。"古老的未来"暗示科学领域的变化,加之这些古老智慧的"复活",合力可以成为局部实践活动的基础,假以时日能够重塑全球的意识和行为。     

Impairments of speech fluency in Lewy body spectrum disorder

Few studies have examined connected speech in demented and non-demented patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). We assessed the speech production of 35 patients with Lewy body spectrum disorder (LBSD), including non-demented PD patients, patients with PD dementia (PDD), and patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), in a semi-structured narrative speech sample in order to characterize impairments of speech fluency and to determine the factors contributing to reduced speech fluency in these patients. Both demented and non-demented PD patients exhibited reduced speech fluency, characterized by reduced overall speech rate and long pauses between sentences. Reduced speech rate in LBSD correlated with measures of between-utterance pauses, executive functioning, and grammatical comprehension. Regression analyses related non-fluent speech, grammatical difficulty, and executive difficulty to atrophy in frontal brain regions. These findings indicate that multiple factors contribute to slowed speech in LBSD, and this is mediated in part by disease in frontal brain regions.     

Maternal parenting stress and mothers' reports of their infants' mastery motivation

Mastery motivation is a psychological force that stimulates an individual to attempt to master a task that is challenging to him or her. This prospective longitudinal study examined the relationship between maternal stress, using the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, and infant mastery motivation, using the Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire, for 150 mother-infant pairs assessed at both 6- and 18-months of age. Infants of mothers with elevated stress levels at 6 months tended to show lower mastery motivation at 18 months (standardized beta=-.46, p=.001). Conversely, infants with lower general competence (standardized beta=-.24, p=.021) and lower persistence during social interactions with other children (standardized beta=-.18, p=.037) at 6 months of age had mothers with elevated total stress at 18 months of age. Implications for programs which simultaneously intervene with child and mother are discussed.     

Iona College Community Centered Family Health History Project: Lessons Learned from Student Focus Groups

The Community Centered Family Health History project was initiated to create accessible family health history tools produced by and for the community. The project goal was to promote increased community engagement in health education by encouraging conversations among family members that would translate knowledge of family health history into healthy lifestyle choices. As one of seven community partners, Iona College participated in customizing and beta-testing the Does It Run in the Family? toolkit. Twenty-nine college students were engaged to recruit three relatives related by blood to provide feedback on the utility of the toolkit. The toolkit consists of two booklets—“A Guide to Family Health History” and “A Guide to Understanding Genetics and Health”—explaining the importance of knowing and talking about health within the family as well as basics about how conditions are passed down through generations. Twenty-two of the twenty-nine students participated in focus groups to discuss their reactions to participation in the project. Students in the focus group reported that the study participants—students and their family members—found the toolkit to be user friendly and the experience a valuable one that prompted many to take positive steps toward good health.     

Weight loss as a primary objective of therapeutic groups for obese women: two preliminary studies

The studies reported here explored whether therapeutic groups for women who eat compulsively can demonstrate weight loss as a primary result as well as the improvements in emotional functioning reported by other investigators. In both studies questionnaire data showed little change in self-esteem or attitudes as measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem and the Eating Disorders Examination. However, interview data showed considerable changes in attitudes and emotional functioning. The initial study demonstrated no weight loss but marked changes in participants’ attitudes to themselves and food, likely to lead to weight loss. A second, longer, uncontrolled study again showed changes in emotional functioning plus weight loss of 5% or more of initial body weight at the end of the intervention in 75% of participants who completed the study (n=8) or 50% of those who were initially recruited (n=12). Weight loss has been maintained in 75% of participants at 18-month follow-up. The data are based on a small sample, which can only be suggestive but supports a further study.