Physiological Responses to Near-Miss Outcomes and Personal Control During Simulated Gambling

Near-miss outcomes during gambling are non-win outcomes that fall close to a pay-out. While objectively equivalent to an outright miss, near-misses motivate ongoing play and may therefore be implicated in the development of disordered gambling. Given naturalistic data showing increases in heart rate (HR) and electrodermal activity (EDA) during periods of real gambling play, we sought to explore the phasic impact of win, near-miss and full-miss outcomes on physiological arousal in a controlled laboratory environment. EDA and HR were monitored as healthy, student participants (n = 33) played a simulated slot-machine task involving unpredictable monetary wins. A second gambling distortion, perceived personal control, was manipulated within the same task by allowing the participant to select the play icon on some trials, and having the computer automatically select the play icon on other trials. Near-misses were rated as less pleasant than full-misses. However, on trials that involved personal choice, near-misses produced higher ratings of ‘continue to play’ than full-misses. Winning outcomes were associated with phasic EDA responses that did not vary with personal choice. Compared to full-misses, near-miss outcomes also elicited an EDA increase, which was greater on personal choice trials. Near-misses were also associated with greater HR acceleration than other outcomes. Near-miss outcomes are capable of eliciting phasic changes in physiological arousal consistent with a state of subjective excitement, despite their objective non-win status.     

欧盟国家图书馆远距离传送计划:评价

1 引言图书馆在为欧洲公民提供信息方面起着重要作用。但从历史上讲 ,图书馆一直是在国家的或更低一级的水平上发挥作用。欧盟将一种全欧合作的方式 ,包括运用计算机和通信技术 ,看作是欧洲图书馆资源共享和解决各图书馆面临的相同问题的途径。在此背景下制定的图书馆远距离传送计划在 2 0世纪 90年代为欧洲许多项目提供了资助 ,这一计划在各个层面上的影响仍有待于评价。　　 2 历史尽管图书馆在各个国家和地区中发挥着重要作用 ,然而在欧洲却几乎没有图书馆方面的合作。1 985年欧洲各国负责文化事务的部长委员会通过了一项决议 ,准备在图…     

探索动物意识的科学禁区

在美国威斯康星州的灵长目研究中心,研究者观察到一对熊猴幽会的情景:名叫琼伊和哈尼的两只熊猴悄悄离开猴群,从里屋溜到了空荡荡的外屋,打算进行一次爱的冒险.琼伊在群猴中排名第三,按规则,这种好事还轮不到他.但这名胆大妄为者达到了目的,并发出了兴奋的喊叫.这让哈尼有点紧张,她猛地回头看了琼伊一眼,目光中含着责备和威吓.琼伊似乎领会到了对方的意思,将噘成圆圈向前翻伸的嘴唇收了回来,开始安静地享受那一切.还好,先前的叫声没有引起其他熊猴的注意.     

阿尔卑斯山的玩雕世家

名副其实的克里斯金雕艺术团,如今是欧洲大陆仪存的玩雕世家.团里的卖艺人和演员便是这些机灵凶猛、善飞嗜猎的金雕,而管理它们的是持有绝活的克罩斯·阿姆斯壮先生.他的本领是在阿尔卑斯山中世代相传下来的.克里斯·阿姆斯壮的家族训练金雕已有200多年的历史.     

Service robotics: do you know your new companion? Framing an interdisciplinary technology assessment

Service-Robotic—mainly defined as “non-industrial robotics”—is identified as the next economical success story to be expected after robots have been ubiquitously implemented into industrial production lines. Under the heading of service-robotic, we found a widespread area of applications reaching from robotics in agriculture and in the public transportation system to service robots applied in private homes. We propose for our interdisciplinary perspective of technology assessment to take the human user/worker as common focus. In some cases, the user/worker is the effective subject acting by means of and in cooperation with a service robot; in other cases, the user/worker might become a pure object of the respective robotic system, for example, as a patient in a hospital. In this paper, we present a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework, which allows us to scrutinize some of the most relevant applications of service robotics; we propose to combine technical, economical, legal, philosophical/ethical, and psychological perspectives in order to design a thorough and comprehensive expert-based technology assessment. This allows us to understand the potentials as well as the limits and even the threats connected with the ongoing and the planned implementation of service robots into human lifeworld—particularly of those technical systems displaying increasing grades of autonomy.     

Evaluation of curricula in higher education: challenges for evaluators

Evaluation of teaching at universities is traditionally realized in terms of student ratings. Curriculum evaluation is rarely done in a systematic manner. More often, the emphasis is placed on a particular aspect, which is only of little help in terms of modifying education. A very prominent example is that of medical education. Here, evaluations of curricula primarily focus on new curricula by contrasting them to traditional ones. The article at hand deals with a different evaluation approach, in which five phases have to be considered and contrasting results to other teaching formats are not the main focus. In this article, the authors concentrate on the first phase (baseline evaluation) of the systematic evaluation of a medical curriculum. They describe several challenges of such an evaluation approach and illustrate the strategies used to overcome them. In addition, associated relevant empirical findings from this evaluation study are presented.     

Civil war, social integration and mental health in Croatia

Research has shown that social relationships are generally beneficial for mental health (Thoits 1995). However, few scholars have examined this association after the occurrence of a significant shock to the social system as a whole. The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between social integration and war-related distress in Croatia immediately following the recent civil war. Does social integration decrease war-related distress? Does social integration buffer the effect of traumatic events on war-related distress? We analyze these questions using nationally representative survey data collected in Croatia in 1996. Results suggest that social integration has both positive and negative direct effects on distress. Being a member of informal organizations, such as sports clubs, and participating in social activities are beneficial for mental health. On the other hand, being a member of some formal organizations, such as church organizations and unions, is detrimental to mental health. There is little support for the idea that social integration buffers the effect of traumatic events on distress. Only one of thirty-six possible interactions is significant and supports the buffer hypothesis. Frequent participation in social activities buffers the effect of experiencing violence on war-related distress. Also, some forms of social integration appear to aggravate the effect of traumatic events on war-related distress. In sum, social integration does affect war-related distress after a system shock, but in complex and sometimes unexpected ways.     

Gender and income in pharmacy: human capital and gender stratification theories revisited

This is a case study of gender and earnings in pharmacy--a profession characterized by its rapid recruitment of female practitioners. We try to account for disparities in earnings between male and female pharmacists in Ontario with the aid of human capital theory and gender stratification theory. Data is drawn from a random sample of 463 Ontario pharmacists. We find a consistent sex gap in earnings regardless of occupational level of practitioners (i.e. owner, manager or employee) and net of such factors as hours worked, commitment to work, hours devoted to childcare, absences from the labour market, and years since graduation. Instead, the main reason why women in pharmacy earn less than males is because they remain employees throughout their careers. However, we are less successful at identifying the additional factors responsible for the depressed earnings of female practitioners. We discuss our findings in light of the claims of gender stratification and human capital theory.     

Perspectives on work (re)entry for persons with disabilities: implications for clinicians

Despite the prevalence of government funding to support employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, real jobs for this population still appear to be elusive. McMaster University researchers examined how six stakeholder groups defined workplace (re)entry success for persons with disabilities. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with representation from employers, unions, persons with disabilities, co-workers, supervisors and human resource departments. Participants numbered 86 and the average age was 42. Participant comments provided the researchers with rich data related to the study objectives. Success was perceived as not only a match between the employee and the job but also a win-win for employer and employer, a uniquely defined set of circumstances based on the specific individual and their environment as well as respect for the individual's dignity and quality of life. This article discusses the study and its outcomes and highlights implications for clinicians.     

Sexual practices and the duration of last heterosexual encounter: findings from the Australian longitudinal study of health and relationships

This study investigated the association between sexual practices and duration of a sexual encounter. Using data from a population-based computer-assisted telephone survey of 8,656 Australians aged 16 to 64 years, four distinct patterns of sexual practices among respondents were found: "basic sexual encounter" (involving mainly kissing, cuddling, stroking one's partner and being stroked, and vaginal intercourse), "basic sexual encounter plus oral sex," "all assessed sexual practices" (all sexual behaviors included in the survey), and "mainly vaginal intercourse" (characterized by lower levels of kissing, cuddling, and stroking). For both men and women, respondents classified in the basic sexual encounter plus oral sex, and all assessed sexual practices clusters reported significantly longer durations than those in the basic sexual encounter group, whereas respondents in the mainly vaginal intercourse cluster reported shorter durations. These differences were found even after allowing for demographic differences in sexual duration-specifically, age and partner type of the most recent opposite-sex partner. These findings add to the understanding of what typically happens in a sexual encounter. Overall, longer sexual encounters appear to be associated with the inclusion of the least common sexual practices-namely, oral sex and self-stimulation.