bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dying and Killing for One’s Group
Authors: Swann William B. , Gómez Ángel , Dovidio John F. , Hart Sonia , Jetten Jolanda
Published: October 2010

Using an intergroup version of the trolley problem, we explored participants’ willingness to sacrifice their lives for their group. In Study 1, Spaniards whose personal identities were fused with their group identity endorsed saving fellow Spaniards by jumping to their deaths in front of a runaway trolley. Studies 2 and 3 showed that the self-sacrificial behaviors of fused Spaniards generalized to saving members of an extended in-group (Europeans) but not members of an out-group (Americans). In Study 4, fused participants endorsed pushing aside a fellow Spaniard who was poised to jump to his death and initiate a chain of events that would lead to the deaths of several terrorists, so that they could commit this act themselves. In all four studies, nonfused participants expressed reluctance to sacrifice themselves, and identification with the group predicted nothing. The nature of identity fusion and its relationship to related constructs are discussed.
Independent Sampling of Features Enables Conscious Perception of Bound Objects
Authors: Vul Edward , Rich Anina N.
Published: October 2010

Decades of research suggest that selective attention is critical for binding the features of objects together for conscious perception. A fundamental question, however, remains unresolved: How do people perceive objects, albeit with binding errors ( illusory conjunctions), when attentional resolution is poor? We used a novel technique to investigate how features are selected to create percepts of bound objects. We measured the correlation of errors (intrusions) in color and identity reports in spatial and temporal selection tasks under conditions of varying spatial or temporal uncertainty. Our findings suggest that attention selects each feature independently by randomly sampling from a probability distribution over space or time. Thus, veridical perception of bound object features arises only when attentional selection is sufficiently precise that the independently sampled features originate from a single object.
A Functional Role for Motor Simulation in Identifying Tools
Authors: Witt Jessica K. , Kemmerer David , Linkenauger Sally A. , Culham Jody
Published: October 2010

Embodied cognition promotes the involvement of the motor system in cognitive processing, such as tool identification. Although neuropsychological studies suggest that the motor system is not necessary for identifying tools, it may still have a functional role in tool recognition. To test this possibility, we used a motor interference task: Participants squeezed a rubber ball in one hand while naming pictures of tools and animals. Participants were faster and more accurate in naming the tools that were oriented with the handle facing away from the squeezing hand than in naming the tools that were oriented with the handle facing toward the squeezing hand. There was no effect of orientation for animals. Given that participants simulate grasping a tool with the hand closest to the handle, this result demonstrates that interfering with the ability to simulate grasping impairs tool naming and suggests that motor simulation has a functional role in tool identification.
Linear Numerical-Magnitude Representations Aid Children’s Memory for Numbers
Authors: Thompson Clarissa A. , Siegler Robert S.
Published: October 2010

We investigated the relation between children’s numerical-magnitude representations and their memory for numbers. Results of three experiments indicated that the more linear children’s magnitude representations were, the more closely their memory of the numbers approximated the numbers presented. This relation was present for preschoolers and second graders, for children from low-income and middle-income backgrounds, for the ranges 0 through 20 and 0 through 1,000, and for four different tasks (categorization and number-line, measurement, and numerosity estimation) measuring numerical-magnitude representations. Other types of numerical knowledge—numeral identification and counting—were unrelated to recall of the same numerical information. The results also indicated that children’s representations vary from trial to trial with the numbers they need to represent and remember and that general strategy-choice mechanisms may operate in selection of numerical representations, as in other domains.
I Suppress, Therefore I Smoke
Authors: Erskine James A.K. , Georgiou George J. , Kvavilashvili Lia
Published: October 2010

Thought suppression is a method frequently employed by individuals who are trying to control their thoughts and behaviors. Although this strategy is known to actually increase unwanted thoughts, it is unclear whether thought suppression also results in behavioral rebound. The study presented in this article investigated the effects of suppressing thoughts of smoking in everyday life on the number of cigarettes subsequently smoked. Study participants recorded their daily cigarette intake and stress levels over a 3-week period. In Week 1 and Week 3, participants monitored intake and stress. During Week 2, in addition to monitoring intake and stress, participants in the experimental groups either suppressed or expressed smoking thoughts, whereas the control group continued monitoring. Our results showed a clear behavioral rebound: The suppression group smoked significantly more in Week 3 than the expression or control group did. Moreover, the tendency to suppress thoughts (measured by the White Bear Suppression Inventory) was positively related to the number of attempts to quit smoking. The implications of our findings for smoking cessation are discussed.
Family Background Buys an Education in Minnesota but Not in Sweden
Authors: Johnson Wendy , Deary Ian J. , Silventoinen Karri , Tynelius Per , Rasmussen Finn
Published: October 2010

Educational attainment, the highest degree or level of schooling obtained, is associated with important life outcomes, at both the individual level and the group level. Because of this, and because education is expensive, the allocation of education across society is an important social issue. A dynamic quantitative environmental-genetic model can help document the effects of social allocation patterns. We used this model to compare the moderating effect of general intelligence on the environmental and genetic factors that influence educational attainment in Sweden and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Patterns of genetic influence on educational outcomes were similar in these two regions, but patterns of shared environmental influence differed markedly. In Sweden, shared environmental influence on educational attainment was particularly important for people of high intelligence, whereas in Minnesota, shared environmental influences on educational attainment were particularly important for people of low intelligence. This difference may be the result of differing access to education: state-supported access (on the basis of ability) to a uniform higher-education system in Sweden versus family-supported access to a more diverse higher-education system in the United States.
Synchronous Multisensory Stimulation Blurs Self-Other Boundaries
Authors: Paladino Maria-Paola , Mazzurega Mara , Pavani Francesco , Schubert Thomas W.
Published: October 2010

In a study that builds on recent cognitive neuroscience research on body perception and social psychology research on social relations, we tested the hypothesis that synchronous multisensory stimulation leads to self-other merging. We brushed the cheek of each study participant as he or she watched a stranger’s cheek being brushed in the same way, either in synchrony or in asynchrony. We found that this multisensory procedure had an effect on participants’ body perception as well as social perception. Study participants exposed to synchronous stimulation showed more merging of self and the other than participants exposed to asynchronous stimulation. The degree of self-other merging was determined by measuring participants’ body sensations and their perception of face resemblance, as well as participants’ judgment of the inner state of the other, closeness felt toward the other, and conformity behavior. The results of this study show how multisensory integration can affect social perception and create a sense of self-other similarity.
Do Decisions Shape Preference?
Authors: Sharot Tali , Velasquez Cristina M. , Dolan Raymond J.
Published: October 2010

Psychologists have long asserted that making a choice changes a person’s preferences. Recently, critics of this view have argued that choosing simply reveals preexisting preferences, and that all studies claiming that choice shapes preferences suffer from a fundamental methodological flaw. Here we address this question directly by dissociating preexisting preferences from decision making. We studied participants who rated different vacation destinations both before and after making a blind choice that could not be guided by preexisting preferences. As an additional control, we elicited ratings in a condition in which a computer made the decision for the participants. We found that preferences were altered after participants made a blind choice, but not after a computer dictated the decision. The results suggest that just as preferences form choices, choices shape preferences.
Observation Inflation
Authors: Lindner Isabel , Echterhoff Gerald , Davidson Patrick S.R. , Brand Matthias
Published: October 2010

Imagining performing an action can induce false memories of having actually performed it—this is referred to as the imagination-inflation effect. Drawing on research suggesting that action observation—like imagination—involves action simulation, and thus creates matching motor representations in observers, we examined whether false memories of self-performance can also result from merely observing another person’s actions. In three experiments, participants observed actions, some of which they had not performed earlier, and took a source-memory test. Action observation robustly produced false memories of self-performance relative to control conditions. The demonstration of this effect, which we refer to as observation inflation, reveals a previously unknown source of false memories that is ubiquitous in everyday life. The effect persisted despite warnings or instructions to focus on self-performance cues given immediately before the test, and despite elimination of sensory overlap between performance and observation. The findings are not easily reconciled with a source-monitoring account but appear to fit an account invoking interpersonal motor simulation.
Color Channels, Not Color Appearance or Color Categories, Guide Visual Search for Desaturated Color Targets
Authors: Lindsey Delwin T. , Brown Angela M. , Reijnen Ester , Rich Anina N. , Kuzmova Yoana I. , Wolfe Jeremy M.
Published: October 2010

In this article, we report that in visual search, desaturated reddish targets are much easier to find than other desaturated targets, even when perceptual differences between targets and distractors are carefully equated. Observers searched for desaturated targets among mixtures of white and saturated distractors. Reaction times were hundreds of milliseconds faster for the most effective (reddish) targets than for the least effective (purplish) targets. The advantage for desaturated reds did not reflect an advantage for the lexical category “pink,” because reaction times did not follow named color categories. Many pink stimuli were not found quickly, and many quickly found stimuli were not labeled “pink.” Other possible explanations (e.g., linear-separability effects) also failed. Instead, we propose that guidance of visual search for desaturated colors is based on a combination of low-level color-opponent signals that is different from the combinations that produce perceived color. We speculate that this guidance might reflect a specialization for human skin.
Emotion Differentiation as Resilience Against Excessive Alcohol Use
Authors: Kashdan Todd B. , Ferssizidis Patty , Collins R. Lorraine , Muraven Mark
Published: October 2010

Some people are adept at using discrete emotion categories ( anxious, angry, sad) to capture their felt experience; other people merely communicate how good or bad they feel. We theorized that people who are better at describing their emotions might be less likely to self-medicate with alcohol. During a 3-week period, 106 underage social drinkers used handheld computers to self-monitor alcohol intake. From participants’ reported experiences during random prompts, we created an individual difference measure of emotion differentiation. Results from a 30-day timeline follow-back revealed that people with intense negative emotions consumed less alcohol if they were better at describing emotions and less reliant on global descriptions. Results from ecological momentary assessment procedures revealed that people with intense negative emotions prior to drinking episodes consumed less alcohol if they were better at describing emotions. These findings provide support for a novel methodology and dimension for understanding the influence of emotions on substance-use patterns.
Infant Attachment Security and the Timing of Puberty
Authors: Belsky Jay , Houts Renate M. , Fearon R.M. Pasco
Published: October 2010

Life-history theories of the early programming of human reproductive strategy stipulate that early rearing experience, including that reflected in infant-parent attachment security, regulates psychological, behavioral, and reproductive development. We tested the hypothesis that infant attachment insecurity, compared with infant attachment security, at the age of 15 months predicts earlier pubertal maturation. Focusing on 373 White females enrolled in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we gathered data from annual physical exams from the ages of 9½ years to 15½ years and from self-reported age of menarche. Results revealed that individuals who had been insecure infants initiated and completed pubertal development earlier and had an earlier age of menarche compared with individuals who had been secure infants, even after accounting for age of menarche in the infants’ mothers. These results support a conditional-adaptational view of individual differences in attachment security and raise questions about the biological mechanisms responsible for the attachment effects we discerned.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Authors: Mogilner Cassie
Published: October 2010

Does thinking about time, rather than money, influence how effectively individuals pursue personal happiness? Laboratory and field experiments revealed that implicitly activating the construct of time motivates individuals to spend more time with friends and family and less time working—behaviors that are associated with greater happiness. In contrast, implicitly activating money motivates individuals to work more and socialize less, which (although productive) does not increase happiness. Implications for the relative roles of time versus money in the pursuit of happiness are discussed.
Illusory Shrinkage and Growth
Authors: Linkenauger Sally A. , Ramenzoni Veronica , Proffitt Dennis R.
Published: October 2010

The notion that apparent sizes are perceived relative to the size of one’s body is supported through the discovery of a new visual illusion. When graspable objects are magnified by magnifying goggles, they appear to shrink back to near-normal size when one’s hand (also magnified) is placed next to them. When objects are “minified” by minifying goggles, the opposite occurs. The rescaling effect also occurred when participants who were trained in tool use viewed the tool next to the objects. However, this change in apparent size does not occur when familiar objects or someone else’s hand is placed next to the magnified or minified object. Presumably, objects’ apparent sizes shift closer to their actual sizes when one’s hand is viewed because objects’ sizes relative to the hand are the same with or without the goggles. These findings highlight the role of body scaling in size perception.
The Effect of Creative Labor on Property-Ownership Transfer by Preschool Children and Adults
Authors: Kanngiesser Patricia , Gjersoe Nathalia , Hood Bruce M.
Published: October 2010

Recognizing property ownership is of critical importance in social interactions, but little is known about how and when this attribute emerges. We investigated whether preschool children and adults believe that ownership of one person’s property is transferred to a second person following the second person’s investment of creative labor in that property. In our study, an experimenter and a participant borrowed modeling-clay objects from each other to mold into new objects. Participants were more likely to transfer ownership to the second individual after he or she invested creative labor in the object than after any other manipulations (holding the object, making small changes to it). This effect was significantly stronger in preschool children than in adults. Duration of manipulation had no effect on property-ownership transfer. Changes in the object’s identity acted only as a secondary cue for children. We conclude that ownership is transferred after an investment of creative labor and that determining property ownership may be an intuitive process that emerges in early childhood.
Are Coarse Scales Sufficient for Fast Detection of Visual Threat?
Authors: Mermillod Martial , Droit-Volet Sylvie , Devaux Damien , Schaefer Alexandre , Vermeulen Nicolas
Published: October 2010

It has recently been suggested that low-spatial-frequency information would provide rapid visual cues to the amygdala for basic but ultrarapid behavioral responses to dangerous stimuli. The present behavioral study investigated the role of different spatial-frequency channels in visually detecting dangerous stimuli belonging to living or nonliving categories. Subjects were engaged in a visual detection task involving dangerous stimuli, and subjects’ behavioral responses were assessed in association with their fear expectations (induced by an aversive 90-dB white noise). Our results showed that, despite its crudeness, low-spatial-frequency information could constitute a sufficient signal for fast recognition of visual danger in a context of fear expectation. In addition, we found that this effect tended to be specific for living entities. These results were obtained despite a strong perceptual bias toward faster recognition of high-spatial-frequency stimuli under supraliminal perception durations.
When Mental Inflexibility Facilitates Executive Control
Authors: Altamirano Lee J. , Miyake Akira , Whitmer Anson J.
Published: October 2010

Although previous research suggests that depressive ruminators tend to become stuck in a particular mind-set, this mental inflexibility may not always be disadvantageous; in some cases, it may facilitate active maintenance of a single task goal in the face of distraction. To evaluate this hypothesis, we tested 98 college students, who differed in ruminative tendencies and dysphoria levels, on two executive-control tasks. One task emphasized fast-paced shifting between goals (letter naming), and one emphasized active goal maintenance (modified Stroop). Higher ruminative tendencies predicted more errors on the goal-shifting task but fewer errors on the goal-maintenance task; these results demonstrated that ruminative tendencies have both detrimental and beneficial effects. Moreover, although ruminative tendencies and dysphoria levels were moderately correlated ( r = .42), higher dysphoria levels predicted more errors on the goal-maintenance task; this finding indicates that rumination and dysphoria can have opposing effects on executive control. Overall, these results suggest that depressive rumination reflects a trait associated with more stability (goal maintenance) than flexibility (goal shifting).
From the Most Fleeting of Glimpses
Authors: Gajewski Daniel A. , Philbeck John W. , Pothier Stephen , Chichka David
Published: October 2010

An observer’s visual perception of the absolute distance between his or her position and an object is based on multiple sources of information that must be extracted during scene viewing. Research has not yet discovered the viewing duration observers need to fully extract distance information, particularly in navigable real-world environments. In a visually directed walking task, participants showed a sensitive response to distance when they were given 9-ms glimpses of floor- and eye-level targets. However, sensitivity to distance decreased markedly when targets were presented at eye level and angular size was rendered uninformative. Performance after brief viewing durations was characterized by underestimation of distance, unless the brief-viewing trials were preceded by a block of extended-viewing trials. The results indicate that experience plays a role in the extraction of information during brief glimpses. Even without prior experience, the extraction of useful information is virtually immediate when the cues of angular size or angular declination are informative for the observer.
Abstract Structural Representations of Goal-Directed Behavior
Authors: Allen Kachina , Ibara Steven , Seymour Amy , Cordova Natalia , Botvinick Matthew
Published: October 2010

Linguistic theory holds that the structure of a sentence can be described in abstract syntactic terms, independent of the specific words the sentence contains. Nonlinguistic behavior, including goal-directed action, is also theorized to have an underlying structural, or “syntactic,” organization. We propose that purposive action sequences are represented cognitively in terms of a means-ends parse, which is a formal specification of how actions fit together to accomplish desired outcomes. To test this theory, we leveraged the phenomenon of structural priming in two experiments. As predicted, participants read sentences describing action sequences faster when these sentences were presented amid other sentences sharing the same parse. Results from a second experiment indicate that the underlying representations relevant to observed action sequences are not strictly tied to language processing. Our results suggest that the structure of goal-directed behavior may be represented abstractly, independently of specific actions and goals, just as linguistic syntax is thought to stand independent of other levels of representation.
Power Posing
Authors: Carney Dana R. , Cuddy Amy J.C. , Yap Andy J.
Published: October 2010

Humans and other animals express power through open, expansive postures, and they express powerlessness through closed, contractive postures. But can these postures actually cause power? The results of this study confirmed our prediction that posing in high-power nonverbal displays (as opposed to low-power nonverbal displays) would cause neuroendocrine and behavioral changes for both male and female participants: High-power posers experienced elevations in testosterone, decreases in cortisol, and increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk; low-power posers exhibited the opposite pattern. In short, posing in displays of power caused advantaged and adaptive psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes, and these findings suggest that embodiment extends beyond mere thinking and feeling, to physiology and subsequent behavioral choices. That a person can, by assuming two simple 1-min poses, embody power and instantly become more powerful has real-world, actionable implications.
Young Children Have a Specific, Highly Robust Bias to Trust Testimony
Authors: Jaswal Vikram K. , Croft A. Carrington , Setia Alison R. , Cole Caitlin A.
Published: October 2010

Why are young children so willing to believe what they are told? In two studies, we investigated whether it is because of a general, undifferentiated trust in other people or a more specific bias to trust testimony. In Study 1, 3-year-olds either heard an experimenter claim that a sticker was in one location when it was actually in another or saw her place an arrow on the empty location. All children searched in the wrong location initially, but those who heard the deceptive testimony continued to be misled, whereas those who saw her mark the incorrect location with an arrow quickly learned to search in the opposite location. In Study 2, children who could both see and hear a deceptive speaker were more likely to be misled than those who could only hear her. Three-year-olds have a specific, highly robust bias to trust what people—particularly visible speakers—say.
Continuous Perception and Graded Categorization
Authors: Toscano Joseph C. , McMurray Bob , Dennhardt Joel , Luck Steven J.
Published: October 2010

Speech sounds are highly variable, yet listeners readily extract information from them and transform continuous acoustic signals into meaningful categories during language comprehension. A central question is whether perceptual encoding captures acoustic detail in a one-to-one fashion or whether it is affected by phonological categories. We addressed this question in an event-related potential (ERP) experiment in which listeners categorized spoken words that varied along a continuous acoustic dimension (voice-onset time, or VOT) in an auditory oddball task. We found that VOT effects were present through a late stage of perceptual processing (N1 component, ~100 ms poststimulus) and were independent of categorization. In addition, effects of within-category differences in VOT were present at a postperceptual categorization stage (P3 component, ~450 ms poststimulus). Thus, at perceptual levels, acoustic information is encoded continuously, independently of phonological information. Further, at phonological levels, fine-grained acoustic differences are preserved along with category information.
The Art of Anger
Authors: Aarts Henk , Ruys Kirsten I. , Veling Harm , Renes Robert A. , de Groot Jasper H.B. , van Nunen Anna M. , Geertjes Sarit
Published: October 2010

Anger has a special status among the emotions in that it can elicit avoidance as well as approach motivation. This study tested the ignored role of reward context in potentiating approach rather than avoidance responses toward objects associated with anger. In Experiment 1, angry and neutral facial expressions were parafoveally paired with common objects, and responses to the objects were assessed by subjective reports of motivation to obtain them. In Experiment 2, objects were again paired with angry or neutral faces outside of participants’ awareness, and responses toward the objects were indexed by physical effort expended in attempting to win them. Results showed that approach motivation toward anger-related objects can be observed when responding is framed in terms of rewards that one can obtain, whereas avoidance motivation occurs in the absence of such a reward context. These findings point to the importance of a reward context in modulating people’s responses to anger.
Impact of ‘‘Off-Label’’ Use of Ivabradine on Exercise Capacity, Gas Exchange, Functional Class, Quality of Life, and Neurohormonal Modulation in Patients With Ischemic Chronic Heart Failure
Authors: Sarullo Filippo M. , Fazio Giovanni , Puccio Danilo , Fasullo Sergio , Paterna Salvatore , Novo Salvatore , Di Pasquale Pietro
Published: October 2010

Background: Epidemiologic studies indicate that elevated heart rate (HR) is an independent risk factor for mortality and morbidity in patients (pts) with chronic heart failure (CHF). Clinical trials with β-blockers suggest that HR reduction is an important mechanism of their benefit in pts with stable CHF. Pharmacologic inhibition of the If current now provides the opportunity of pure HR reduction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of ‘‘Off-Label’’ use of ivabradine on exercise capacity, gas exchange, functional class, quality of life, and neurohormonal modulation in pts with ischemic CHF. Methods: Between January 2008 and June 2008, a graded maximal exercise test with respiratory gas analysis and an endurance test with constant workload corresponding to 85% of the peak VO2 at the baseline and after 3 months were performed, and at the same times, N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels were also measured, in 60 pts (45 M, 15 F, mean age 52.7 ± 5.3 years), with stable ischemic CHF, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classes II (n = 35)—III (n = 25), with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 40%, randomized to a ‘‘off-label’’ ivabradine use (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). Results: The exercise capacity increased from 14.8 ± 2.5 to 28.2 ± 3.5 min (P < .0001) and the peak oxygen consumption tended to improve from 13.5 ± 1.3 to 17.9 ± 2.4 mL/kg per minute (P < .0001) in ivabradine group. Oxygen consumption at the anaerobic threshold (AT) increased from 11.9 ± 1.4 to 15.3 ± 1.4 mL/kg per minute (P < .0001). NTproBNP levels decreased from 2356 ± 2113 pg/mL to 1434 ± 1273 pg/mL (P = .045). No significant differences were found in control group at 3 months. The positive ivabradine effects were also associated with an improvement in the NYHA functional class and quality of life. Conclusion: The ‘‘Off-Label’’ use of ivabradine significantly improves the exercise capacity, gas exchange, functional heart failure class, quality of life, and neurohormonal modulation in pts with ischemic CHF.
Gated Communities and the Construction of Social Class Markers in Postsocialist Societies: The Case of Poland
Authors: Polanska Dominika V.
Published: October 2010

The aim of this article is to analyze how social class markers are constructed in the discourse on gated communities in a postsocialist urban context. The case of Poland is used as an example of a post-Communist country where the number of gated communities is increasing rapidly in urban areas. The material of study consists of 50 articles published in the largest national newspaper. This article argues that the discourse on gated communities is constituted by and constitutes class divisions and social class markers prevalent in the country since the fall of Communism. The “new” capitalistic system with its inherent social divisions is described as creating demands for “new” forms of housing where gates function as separators, protectors, and class identifiers. Residential differentiation is a reality in Polish society, and private space has become a symbol of exclusivity and spread throughout the country along with the popularity of gated forms of housing.
Negotiation in Motion: Unpacking a Geography of Mobility
Authors: Jensen Ole B.
Published: October 2010

This article argues for an understanding of public transit spaces as sites of multiple dynamic interactions. Much inspired by the approach of Erving Goffman, the article explore a “mobilized” understanding of some of his central concepts. The theoretical underpinning is the development of concepts related to interaction, mobility, and transit that focus on notions of the “mobile with,” “negotiation in motion,” “mobile sense making,” and “temporary congregations.” The theoretical approach aims at seeing public transit spaces as sites where cars, pedestrians, mopeds, and bikes on a regular basis “negotiate” not only routes in and across the space but also express dynamic flows of interaction in motion. The claim is that what seems like ordinary urban movement patterns are more than this. By moving in the city among buildings, objects, and people, one interacts with the “environment,” making sense of it and ultimately producing culture and identity. Empirically, Nytorv square in Aalborg, Denmark, is mapped and analyzed through recurrent field studies. The article aims at unpacking the geography of mobility at the site of Nytorv by applying the two perspectives of the “river” and the “ballet” to the mobile practices of the site.
Peer Evaluation and its Blurred Boundaries: Results from a Meta-evaluation in Initial Vocational Education and Training
Authors: Speer Sandra
Published: October 2010

Peer evaluation has proved to be a popular approach with both peers and the evaluated, but there has been considerable variation in the ways in which peer evaluations have been implemented. There are different forms, purposes and ways of organizing peer evaluation. Peer evaluations are also not uniform and links to other evaluations can be made. After providing a general overview of different kinds of peer evaluation, this article focuses on the results from a meta-evaluation of peer evaluation in Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET). This meta-evaluation was partly inspired by existing evaluation standards and covered fifteen peer-review pilots in eight European countries. First, the scope of the peer team and the underlying evaluative framework are discussed. Second, the nuances of implementation and the conflicts that exist are highlighted. The article concludes that, under certain conditions, peer evaluation and self-evaluation provide a powerful tandem to produce empirically grounded, context-sensitive information to support school improvement.
Intersecting magisteria
Authors: Colwell-Chanthaphonh Chip , Ferguson T.J.
Published: October 2010

Stephen Jay Gould famously argued that science and religion are fundamentally ‘nonoverlapping magisteria’ — two spheres of understanding that should peacefully coexist without intersecting. However, when Native American religious practices contain cultural and historical information that can inform archaeological interpretations, the wall separating these spheres of knowledge necessarily breaks down. This essay examines how archaeological science and traditional knowledge can be bridged, by exploring the ancient history and contemporary meanings of archaeological sites in northeastern Arizona, a landscape that is important to the Hopi and Zuni, among other tribes. Methodologically this work builds outward from a series of ‘placebased interviews’ to create a framework for collaborative research, while theoretically it builds upwards from the foundation of an ‘ethnocritical approach’ that willingly returns to the sacred. Through such collaborative projects, we may develop a shared authority for shared places, meeting upon the magisteria’s common ground.
Making a huaca
Authors: Moore Jerry D.
Published: October 2010

Recent studies exploring social memory have led to a growing literature on the ‘archaeology of memory’ that examines the ways material culture is deployed to make cultural statements about the past by modern, historic, and prehistoric societies. Nonetheless, the archaeology of memory encounters significant theoretical problems and terminological vagaries, shortcomings resolved by an inclusive and more robust theoretical position, the theory of practice. These issues illuminate recent archaeological data from the site of Santa Rosa, Department of Tumbes, Peru, where a specific place — a class of sacred spaces known in the Andes as a huaca — was the locus for ritual acts between circa BCE 3550—2700 and CE 1470. Although Santa Rosa exhibits a spatially recurrent significance, the distinctive material signatures are separated by substantial hiatuses and fundamentally different cosmologies. While Santa Rosa might appear as the locus of social memory, the archaeological patterns are better explained by reference to a theory of practice.
A ‘problem’ to be managed?
Authors: Owler Kathryn
Published: October 2010

Driven largely by efficiency imperatives, many universities have come to adopt a managerialist approach to research over the last several years. University administrators have become actively concerned with the traditionally long times taken to complete a PhD and high attrition rates. Consequently, the PhD, and PhD students’ experience of struggle when writing a PhD, is now often framed by universities as a problem to be managed. This framing is problematic if we consider that, for many students, the personally demanding nature of the PhD is central to the research process. In the first part of this article I discuss the contemporary administrative response to the PhD. I then go on to discuss the lived experience of writing a PhD, from the students’ point of view, drawing on my own and other students’ accounts. I utilize the writings of Maurice Blanchot in my analysis, who views the personal ups and downs of writing as integral to knowledge production.
The Metamorphosis ; or a phenomenology of teaching
Authors: Goldsmith Jason N.
Published: October 2010

Can we creatively bring our intellectual interests to bear on how we talk about teaching? Can our teaching shape how we understand and go about our scholarship? This article addresses and attempts to bridge the scholarly and the pedagogical imperatives of our profession through the methodically unmethodical process that Theodor Adorno identified as central to the literary essay. Composed in two parts, each with a distinct voice, the article performs the very kind of non-traditional scholarship it calls for by considering what it is we do and what it is we are as teachers from a phenomenological perspective.
Attitudes and opinions of nursing and medical staff regarding the supply and storage of medicinal products before and after the installation of a drawer-based automated stock-control system
Authors: Ardern-Jones Joanne , Hughes Donald K , Rowe Philip H , Mottram David R , Green Christopher F
Published: October 2010

Objectives

This study assessed the attitudes of Emergency Department (ED) staff regarding the introduction of an automated stock-control system. The objectives were to determine attitudes to stock control and replenishment, speed of access to the system, ease of use and the potential for future uses of the system. The study was carried out in the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (COCH) ED, which is attended by over 65 000 patients each year.

Methods

All 68 ED staff were sent pre-piloted, semi-structured questionnaires and reminders, before and after automation of medicines stock control.

Key findings

Pre-implementation, 35 staff (66.1% of respondents) reported that problems occurred with access to medicine storage keys ‘very frequently’ or ‘frequently’. Twenty-eight (52.8%) respondents ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that medicines were quickly accessed, which rose to 41 (77%) post-automation (P < 0.001). Improvement was reported in stock replenishment and storage of stock injections and oral medicines, but there were mixed opinions regarding storage of bulk fluids and refrigerated items. Twenty-seven (51.9%) staff reported access to the system within 1 min and 17 (32.7%) staff reported access within 1–2 min. The majority of staff found the system ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to use and there was a non-significant relationship between previous use of information technology and acceptance of the system.

Conclusions

From a staff satisfaction perspective, automation improved medicines storage, security and stock control, and addressed the problem of searching for keys to storage areas. Concerns over familiarity with computers, queuing, speed of access and an improved audit trail do not appear to have been issues, when compared with the previous manual storage of medicines.
Evaluation of use of herbal medicines among ambulatory hypertensive patients attending a secondary health care facility in Nigeria
Authors: Olisa Nwako S , Oyelola Fakeye T
Published: October 2010

Objectives

The aim was to evaluate use of herbal medicine among hypertensive patients.

Method

The study was carried out at a secondary health care facility in Maiduguri, Nigeria, between April and June 2007. Pretested questionnaires were administered to 500 ambulatory hypertensive patients attending the hypertension clinic after giving consent. Demographic data of respondents, information on reasons for use, sources of herbal medicines, co-administration with allopathic agents, effects observed, steps taken when adverse effects were observed and reasons for discontinuation of herbal medicines were obtained. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and χ2 at a significance level of P < 0.05.

Key findings

One hundred and twenty respondents were found to be using herbal medicines. Increased age was associated with increased use of herbal medicines (P < 0.05). Co-administration of herbal medicines with antihypertensive agents was done by 47.5% respondents, out of which herbs with antihypertensive activity were used by 33.33%. The majority of respondents, 71.15%, were using herbal medicines unbeknownst to their physicians. Clinically evident adverse effects due to co-administration of herbal medicines and allopathic agents were reported by 21.04% of the respondents. Side effects observed (3.79%), improvement in clinical conditions (3.03%), perceived inefficacy of the herbal medicine (1.52%) and instructions by the health care provider (21.15%) were reasons given for discontinuation of the herbal medicines. Reasons given for preferring herbal medicines were combinations of perceived failure of allopathic medicines (31.73%), relatively high cost of allopathic medicine (23.08%), socio-cultural practices/herbal knowledge (20.19%), poor accessibility to medical facilities (19.23%), safety concerns (9.62%) and uncaring attitudes of hospital staff when attending to respondents (6.73%).

Conclusions

Herbal medicines were often co-administered with allopathic agents by hypertensive patients, and health care givers need to be vigilant and include questions about use of herbal medicines when taking a patient's drug medication history.
The influence of continuing professional development portfolio records on pharmacy practice
Authors: Kostrzewski Andrzej J , Dhillon Soraya , Goodsman Danë , Taylor Kevin M G
Published: October 2010

Objectives

The aim of this study was to undertake an in-depth investigation of the influence of continuing professional development (CPD) portfolios on pharmacy practice in the hospital setting. The objectives were to explore the views of pharmacists regarding the contribution of CPD records to professional practice and examine the influence of time and experience on pharmacists' views of recording professional practice.

Method

A qualitative design was used to explore the views of pharmacists over 12 months. Pharmacists were stratified according to years of practice in the UK National Health Service (NHS). The methods used involved semi-structured in-depth face-to-face interviews. The interviews were undertaken at three time points. The pharmacists were gathered into three focus groups to test the consistency of the interviews. A purposive sampling method used nine NHS Teaching and Non-Teaching hospital pharmacists in the London area.

Key findings

The participants included four males and five females, who had been qualified for between 0.1 and 21 years. Three key themes emerged for how CPD records contribute to practice: (1) lack of contribution to practice, (2) tacit contribution and (3) mentality. Overall, the recording process made little if any change in professional practice. The more experienced participants were less likely to be able to explain any changes in practice and there were no consistent changes in the views expressed over time.

Conclusions

The contribution of CPD recording to enhancing practice in hospital pharmacists was difficult to demonstrate. This study has also illustrated the power relationships involving control mechanisms used by the NHS, and the UK pharmacists' regulatory body, which are discussed in the context of the Panopticon model of self-regulated behaviour. Further research is needed to establish the value of CPD recording.
Research skills training for the Doctor of Pharmacy in US Schools of Pharmacy: A descriptive study
Authors: Fuji Kevin T , Galt Kimberly A
Published: October 2010

Objectives

As the practice of pharmacy grows increasingly complex, graduates are expected to possess a comprehensive set of skills enabling them to provide optimal patient care. Thus, research skills are becoming increasingly valuable and a necessary part of pharmacist training globally. However, training opportunities for improving research skills have not been well explored in the literature. This study examines how research skills are currently being offered in various Doctor of Pharmacy curricula in US Schools of Pharmacy.

Methods

A five-question survey was e-mailed to key individuals at 95 Colleges of Pharmacy in the USA and Puerto Rico. Responses were aggregated and then stratified by research project requirements, as well as by school type (public or private; Carnegie Foundation classification).

Key findings

Seventy-nine respondents provided usable surveys for an 83% response rate. Respondents encompassed a representative population of school types. Although most schools do not require completion of a research project (75%), the majority of research skills listed were taught in various forms in over half of the responding institutions. There did not appear to be a significant distinction in research skills training provided based upon school type. However, schools requiring students to complete a research project in order to graduate provided the most comprehensive research skills training.

Conclusions

Research skills training has greatly increased over the past 10 years. However, more study needs to be done in a number of areas, including determining the most effective way to offer research skills training, determining its post-graduate impact and determining its overall effect on the profession of pharmacy.
Cardiovascular drug use prior to diagnosis of diabetes: A pilot study in community pharmacy
Authors: Simoens Steven , De Coster Sandra , Dethier Marleen , Lenie Jan , Meuwissen Paul , Laekeman Gert
Published: October 2010

Objectives

The literature indicates that cardiovascular drug use is higher during the years prior to diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. As there are pharmaco-epidemiological and economic consequences of enhanced medication use prior to diagnosis of diabetes, there is a need for a comparative analysis of the drug-use pattern by patients with a subsequent diagnosis of diabetes and control patients. This pilot study aimed to investigate cardiovascular drug use in patients with a subsequent diagnosis of diabetes using data extracted from 200 community pharmacies in the Belgian township of Hasselt.

Methods

Based on community pharmacy data, a retrospective case-control study compared the drug use of patients with a subsequent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (cases) with patients without a subsequent diagnosis (controls). Cases were identified if patients started taking metformin (and possibly other drugs used in diabetes) during the 2004–2006 study period. Drug use was expressed as a binary variable, reflecting whether or not a patient took drugs belonging to a specific cardiovascular subclass.

Key findings

Our dataset consisted of 158 cases with a subsequent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and 632 control patients. Patients with a subsequent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes had a higher propensity to take cardiovascular drugs prior to diagnosis than control patients. This trend was observed across all cardiovascular drug classes, except for calcium-channel blockers, and was statistically significant for β-blocking agents and agents acting on the renin-angiotensin system.

Conclusions

A positive association was observed between cardiovascular drug use and subsequent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. This study emphasizes the potential role for community pharmacy in early identification of diabetes using more targeted screening based on cardiovascular drug use as derived from pharmacy databases.