The Whole is Greater: Reflective Practice,Human Development and Fields of Consciousness and Collaborative Creativity

Because Western experiments assume creativity is an individual phenomenon and rarely investigate how trust and openness might build collective resonance, flow, and creativity, the creative whole typically amounts to less than the sum of the parts. The author argues, however, that group creativity increases as members develop, especially through Wilber's (in press) transpersonal stages. He illustrates how organizational leaders have facilitated creativity through reflective practice. Presenting evidence regarding the field effects of collective consciousness, he suggests that our minds and hearts interact in subtle yet powerful ways, which leaders can intuit, to support the emergence of collaborative creativity.     

The emotional and cognitive effect of immersion in film viewing

This brief report presents an experiment testing the effect of immersion on emotional responses and cognitive genre categorisation of film viewers. Immersion of a film presentation was varied by presenting an animated movie either in a 3D-viewing condition (low immersive condition) or in a CAVE condition (high immersive condition, comparable to virtual reality experience). Viewers rated their emotions and categorised the movies into four basic film genres (action, drama, comedy, and non-fiction). Two distinct types of emotion were measured: Fictional World emotions (e.g., sadness) in response to the presented fictional events and Artefact emotions in response to the film as an artefact (e.g., fascination). Results showed that stronger immersion led to more intense emotions but did not influence genre categorisation. In line with expectations, both types of emotional response were intensified by high immersion. The results are explained by suggesting that highly immersive cinema has its impact on a basic dimension of emotion, namely arousal that underlies both types of emotions.     

Attentional and behavioural responses of spider fearfuls to virtual spiders

This study employed an immersed virtual environment (IVE) in the Nijmegen RIVERlab to study spider fearfuls’ attentional and motor reactions to virtual spiders. The participants were exposed to virtual spiders while completing an unrelated task, walking freely through a virtual museum. Compared to non-fearful controls, spider fearfuls showed an increase in state anxiety, they spent more time looking at spiders, and they exhibited spontaneous behavioural avoidance of spiders and visually similar objects. The results extend, and to some degree contradict, those of earlier studies with static pictures, and they speak to the usefulness of state-of-the-art IVEs in fundamental anxiety research.     

Loneliness and social behaviours in a virtual social environment

Feeling lonely motivates people to reconnect with others, but it can also trigger a vicious cycle of cognitions and behaviours that reinforces their loneliness. In this study, we examined the behavioural consequences of loneliness in a virtual social environment. A total of 176 participants navigated a character (protagonist) through a two-dimensional browser game and rated the character's loneliness multiple times during the game. In the first part of the game, another character is introduced as the protagonist's spouse. At one point, the spouse leaves for an undetermined period of time but later returns. Immediately before this separation, higher ascribed loneliness of the protagonist was associated with more frequent interactions with the spouse. After the reunion, however, higher ascribed loneliness was associated with less frequent interactions with the spouse. Ascribed loneliness was not significantly related to the frequency of interactions with others nor to the frequency of solitary activities. These patterns held after controlling for ascribed positive affect. Participants' levels of loneliness were related to the level of ascribed loneliness only when the spouse was present but not when the spouse was absent. In sum, these findings suggest that the conditions that trigger the vicious cycle of loneliness are person- and situation-specific.     

Application of Cognitive Load Theory to Develop a Measure of Team Cognitive Efficiency

Improving human systems integration through technologically advanced training and performance aids has become increasingly important to military transformation. Measures of improved cognitive and coordination processes arising from the employment of transformational tools are necessary to guide the refinement and future development of such technologies. In this article, we describe a cognitive load theory approach to developing a combinatory measure of individual workload and team performance following an experimental intervention involving training and a decision support system. We discuss how indicators of what we term team cognitive efficiency can improve assessing the effectiveness of transformational processes and technologies.     

Perspectives on the New Orleans Saints as a Vehicle for the Installation of Hope,Post Katrina

Abstract

The author discusses the effectiveness of popular culture as a tool for the instillation of hope within a community, using as an example the ways in which a National Football League team galvanized the residents of New Orleans in the 18 months following Hurricane Katrina. This article posits that the Saints supplied an impetus for transcendence and healing both individually and communally.     

A behavioural experiment in virtual reality to verify the role of action function in space coding

Neurophysiological data indicate that the reachable peripersonal space and the unreachable extrapersonal space are represented in segregated parietofrontal circuits and that when the unreachable space becomes reachable because of tool use, it is automatically coded by the network selective for peripersonal space. Here we directly tested the role of action's consequences in space coding. Thirty-eight participants bisected lines at either a reachable distance (60 cm) or unreachable distance (120 cm) using either a laser pointer or laser cutter. The laser cutter but not the laser pointer had an action consequence; the line broke into two pieces. The results showed that distance moderated the effect of action. At an unreachable distance, the mean bisection point was closer to the centre when participants used the laser cutter compared to when they used the laser pointer. There were no differences at a reachable distance (60 cm). This result suggests that the space in which the individual may determine a physical consequence is categorized as peripersonal space, independently from its actual distance from the individual's body.     

Fostering innovation in functionally diverse teams: The two faces of transformational leadership

Empirical research on the effects of functional diversity on team innovation has yielded largely inconsistent results, showing positive, negative, as well as nonsignificant effects. For capitalizing on the positive potential inherent in functionally diverse teams, opening the black box between cross-functionality and team innovation by analysing mediating and moderating processes thus seems to be highly relevant. In this article, task and relationship conflicts are introduced as mediators of functional diversity and team innovation. Within this framework, transformational leadership is discussed as a moderator. It will become apparent that the role of transformational leadership in fostering the innovativeness of cross-functional teams is rather ambiguous. The discussed mediators and the moderator transformational leadership are integrated into a comprehensive framework and propositions for future research are derived.     

Book Review

Experienced military air traffic controllers (25 respondents, males = 15, females = 10, years of experience = less than one year = 5 respondents, more than one year but less than three years = 11 respondents and more than three years = 9 respondents) participated in this study to determine whether self-directed team learning exists within their air traffic control teams and to understand the impact of self-directed team learning on the air traffic control work environment. Data on self-directed team learning and learning approaches were collected using a Self-directed Team Learning Questionnaire (SDTLQ) and a Learning Approaches Questionnaire (LAQ). These data were analysed using an inductive reasoning mode for qualitative data analysis and quantitative data analysis followed a supporting deductive reasoning mode. Triangulation as a technique was used to determine whether multiple sources of data agreed and to obtain better, cross-checked insights (Burgess, 1985). Results revealed that these air traffic controllers and air traffic control teams investigated in the study do indeed function within self-directed working, training and learning environments. The quality of team performance was influenced by self-directed team learning initiatives. Furthermore, the quality of self-directed team learning relied upon the effectiveness of air traffic control team performances.     

Space Trumps Time When Talking About Objects

The nature of the relationship between the concepts of space and time in the human mind is much debated. Some claim that space is primary and that it structures time (cf. Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) while others (cf. Walsh, 2003) maintain no difference in status between them. Using fully immersive virtual reality (VR), we examined the influence of object distance and time of appearance on choice of demonstratives (this and that) to refer to objects. Critically, demonstratives can be used spatially (this/that red triangle) and temporally (this/that month). Experiment 1 showed a pattern of demonstrative usage in VR that is consistent with results found in real‐world studies. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 manipulated both when and where objects appeared, providing scenarios where participants were free to use demonstratives in either a temporal or spatial sense. Although we find evidence for time of presentation affecting object mention, the experiments found that demonstrative choice was affected only by distance. These results support the view that spatial uses of demonstratives are privileged over temporal uses.