Search results
1 – 10 of over 1000Karen Dodd, Katie Austin, Laura Baxter, Jo Jennison, Mark Kenny, Tessa Lippold, Alexandra Livesey, Julie Lloyd, Julie Anne Nixon, Zillah Webb and Esther Wilcox
There is little research addressing the delivery of training for health professionals who are interested in using cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) techniques as an adjunct to…
Abstract
Purpose
There is little research addressing the delivery of training for health professionals who are interested in using cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) techniques as an adjunct to their current role. This paper describes the establishment and evaluation of a CBT training course to develop CBT skills in staff working with people with intellectual disabilities in Trust healthcare settings. The course would enable staff to learn how they could incorporate these skills into their daily practice to help them understand and work more effectively with people with intellectual disabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
A CBT training course was designed to teach staff the use of a number of basic and specific CBT techniques and principles that staff could use within their current roles. Specific issues in relation to people with intellectual disabilities were included, e.g. understanding cognitive deficits as well as cognitive distortions. The course ran for six sessions on a fortnightly basis, followed by a two-month follow-up session. Participants completed a pre- and post-assessment questionnaire and kept a reflective diary.
Findings
The training clearly focused on teaching skills that were feasible for staff to use in their own work settings. The evaluations, especially from the reflective diaries and the post-course questionnaires clearly demonstrated that this aim was achieved.
Originality/value
This was a pilot study as there has been no previously published evidence of using this approach within intellectual disabilities services. A further training course has been planned to continue evaluating the effectiveness of this approach.
Details
Keywords
Neuroscientists act as proxies for implied anthropomorphic signal-processing beings within the brain, Homunculi. The latter examine the arriving neuronal spike-trains to infer…
Abstract
Purpose
Neuroscientists act as proxies for implied anthropomorphic signal-processing beings within the brain, Homunculi. The latter examine the arriving neuronal spike-trains to infer internal and external states. But a Homunculus needs a brain of its own, to coordinate its capabilities – a brain that necessarily contains a Homunculus and so on indefinitely. Such infinity is impossible – and in well-cited papers, Attneave and later Dennett claim to eliminate it. How do their approaches differ and do they (in fact) obviate the Homunculi?
Design/methodology/approach
The Attneave and Dennett approaches are carefully scrutinized. To Attneave, Homunculi are effectively “decision-making” neurons that control behaviors. Attneave presumes that Homunculi, when successively nested, become successively “stupider”, limiting their numbers by diminishing their responsibilities. Dennett likewise postulates neuronal Homunculi that become “stupider” – but brain-wards, where greater sophistication might have been expected.
Findings
Attneave’s argument is Reductionist and it simply assumes-away the Homuncular infinity. Dennett’s scheme, which evidently derives from Attneave’s, ultimately involves the same mistakes. Attneave and Dennett fail, because they attempt to reduce intentionality to non-intentionality.
Research limitations/implications
Homunculus has been successively recognized over the centuries by philosophers, psychologists and (some) neuroscientists as a crucial conundrum of cognitive science. It still is.
Practical implications
Cognitive-science researchers need to recognize that Reductionist explanations of cognition may actually devolve to Homunculi, rather than eliminating them.
Originality/value
Two notable Reductionist arguments against the infinity of Homunculi are proven wrong. In their place, a non-Reductionist treatment of the mind, “Emergence”, is discussed as a means of rendering Homunculi irrelevant.
Details
Keywords
Ritanjali Panigrahi, Praveen Ranjan Srivastava and Prabin Kumar Panigrahi
This study extends the literature on the effectiveness of e-learning by investigating the role of student engagement on perceived learning effectiveness (PLE) in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study extends the literature on the effectiveness of e-learning by investigating the role of student engagement on perceived learning effectiveness (PLE) in the context of Indian higher education. Further, the impact of personal factors (Internet self-efficacy (ISE)) and environmental factors (information, system and service quality parameters) on various dimensions of student engagement (behavioral, emotional and cognitive) is studied through the lens of social cognitive theory (SCT).
Design/methodology/approach
An online management information systems (MIS) course is delivered to a batch of 412 postgraduate students. An online survey was conducted to measure the factors affecting their PLE. In addition to the survey, a summative assessment is conducted to evaluate the students in terms of their marks to assess their achievements (actual learning). Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) is used to validate the developed research model.
Findings
It is discovered that the IS (information system) quality parameters (environmental factors) positively impact PLE. The ISE affects the PLE through the mediating effect of all the dimensions of student engagement. Furthermore, there exists a positive relationship between PLE and student marks.
Originality/value
This study develops a research model using personal and environmental factors to understand PLE through the lens of SCT and then empirically validates it. The psychological process from the students' ISE to the PLE is explained through the mediating effects of various dimensions of engagement. Further, it is found that the PLE is positively related to student marks.
Details
Keywords
The introduction of roller‐milling rendered it possible to utilise any variety of wheat, since the grain in this process is not subjected to severe attrition, and pulverisation of…
Abstract
The introduction of roller‐milling rendered it possible to utilise any variety of wheat, since the grain in this process is not subjected to severe attrition, and pulverisation of the bran is avoided as far as possible. In roller‐milling the wheat grain is reduced to flour in gradual stages (gradual reduction process), during which the offal is continually removed by sifting and by the use of air currents. In this way a more complete removal of branny and other undesired particles can be effected, and a greater yield of highly refined flour can be obtained than in stone‐milling.
Outlines various positive achievements by the British Libraryduring 1994. Suggests that for the British Library, 1994 was marked bycontinuing controversies over the new St Pancras…
Abstract
Outlines various positive achievements by the British Library during 1994. Suggests that for the British Library, 1994 was marked by continuing controversies over the new St Pancras building. Discusses the arguments surrounding the St Pancras development in relation to three documents issued during 1994. The hostility of the British Library Regular Readers Group to losing the Round Reading Room in Bloomsbury was reexpressed in a new edition of its pamphlet. The whole project was examined by the National Heritage Committee; discusses its conclusions. Finally, the chairman of the British Library Board, Sir Anthony Kenny, produced a pamphlet outlining the background to the development of the new British Library building, its present state and future prospects. Discusses this in relation to the other documents and development of British Library policy.
Details
Keywords
Cathy Van Dyck, Nicoletta G. Dimitrova, Dirk F. de Korne and Frans Hiddema
The main goal of the current research was to investigate whether and how leaders in health care organizations can stimulate incident reporting and error management by “walking the…
Abstract
Purpose
The main goal of the current research was to investigate whether and how leaders in health care organizations can stimulate incident reporting and error management by “walking the safety talk” (enacted priority of safety).
Design/methodology/approach
Open interviews (N=26) and a cross-sectional questionnaire (N=183) were conducted at the Rotterdam Eye Hospital (REH) in The Netherlands.
Findings
As hypothesized, leaders’ enacted priority of safety was positively related to incident reporting and error management, and the relation between leaders’ enacted priority of safety and error management was mediated by incident reporting. The interviews yielded rich data on (near) incidents, the leaders’ role in (non)reporting, and error management, grounding quantitative findings in concrete case descriptions.
Research implications
We support previous theorizing by providing empirical evidence showing that (1) enacted priority of safety has a stronger relationship with incident reporting than espoused priority of safety and (2) the previously implied positive link between incident reporting and error management indeed exists. Moreover, our findings extend our understanding of behavioral integrity for safety and the mechanisms through which it operates in medical settings.
Practical implications
Our findings indicate that for the promotion of incident reporting and error management, active reinforcement of priority of safety by leaders is crucial.
Value/originality
Social sciences researchers, health care researchers and health care practitioners can utilize the findings of the current paper in order to help leaders create health care systems characterized by higher incident reporting and more constructive error handling.
Details
Keywords
This chapter reflects the findings of a qualitative study of supplementary education in Western Australia, showing a commitment to understanding the broader social context of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter reflects the findings of a qualitative study of supplementary education in Western Australia, showing a commitment to understanding the broader social context of the individuals receiving educational assistance beyond their normal classroom activities.
Design/methodology/approach
The chapter is based on 10 semi-structured interviews conducted with university students who had utilised supplementary education services of a tutor made available through their schools and a variety of secondary sources.
Findings
The study also reveals that student access to university is not necessarily enhanced by private tutoring. It uncovers an under-researched component of the overall educational process in pointing to some of the emotional dimensions of the supplementary education industry. While tutoring did not appear to harm the chances of students making it to university, the beneficial effects of tutoring are not as clear-cut as some suggest they are. Overall the research suggests that, emotional support effects notwithstanding, perhaps we should not worry overly much about the inequalities brought by private tutoring as, yet again, the market shows itself to less efficient than some hope it to be and that others might fear it is.
Originality/value
Market-based supplementary education remains massively under-researched in Australia. While qualitative research is unable to address the effects of educational interventions definitively, the study adds important layers of complexity to questions about educational effectiveness and inequality. It helps validate concerns about social and economic inequalities; it also mollifies these concerns, partially because some of the programmes described here aim at addressing some basic inequalities, particularly those related to rural and remote education.
Details
Keywords
Iain Munro and Kate Kenny
Whistleblowing plays a crucial role in revealing organizational misconduct and systemic corruption in industry and government. This paper investigates changing practices of…
Abstract
Whistleblowing plays a crucial role in revealing organizational misconduct and systemic corruption in industry and government. This paper investigates changing practices of whistleblower activism, with particular reference to the role of solidarity and the increased role of support networks. Many modern whistleblower disclosures have revealed gaping flaws in the system of global governance related to a range of important social and economic issues, such as tax evasion, global mass surveillance, the use of torture and illegal wars of aggression. All these forms of systemic corruption are reliant on the use of secrecy havens to conceal the abuse from public scrutiny and democratic oversight. Counter-hegemonic social movements that oppose forms of systemic corruption can find important allies in those whistleblowers, who leak vital information about misconduct and corruption to the public. In this paper, we argue that there is a clear relationship of mutual support between whistleblowing and activist social movements, both in the process of whistleblowing and in furthering the campaigns of the social movements themselves. We theorize this, unpacking the processes and dynamics underlying the relationship, and offering a framework for analysis. The paper concludes with a discussion of the changing role of whistleblower activism and support networks in undertaking social reform and counter-hegemonic practice.
Details