Cross-Cultural Patterns in Dynamic Ratings of Positive and Negative Natural Emotional Behaviour

Background: Studies of cross-cultural variations in the perception of emotion have typically compared rates of recognition of static posed stimulus photographs. That research has provided evidence for universality in the recognition of a range of emotions but also for some systematic cross-cultural variation in the interpretation of emotional expression. However, questions remain about how widely such findings can be generalised to real life emotional situations. The present study provides the first evidence that the previously reported interplay between universal and cultural influences extends to ratings of natural, dynamic emotional stimuli.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Participants from Northern Ireland, Serbia, Guatemala and Peru used a computer based tool to continuously rate the strength of positive and negative emotion being displayed in twelve short video sequences by people from the United Kingdom engaged in emotional conversations. Generalized additive mixed models were developed to assess the differences in perception of emotion between countries and sexes. Our results indicate that the temporal pattern of ratings is similar across cultures for a range of emotions and social contexts. However, there are systematic differences in intensity ratings between the countries, with participants from Northern Ireland making the most extreme ratings in the majority of the clips.

Conclusions/Significance: The results indicate that there is strong agreement across cultures in the valence and patterns of ratings of natural emotional situations but that participants from different cultures show systematic variation in the intensity with which they rate emotion. Results are discussed in terms of both ‘in-group advantage’ and ‘display rules’ approaches. This study indicates that examples of natural spontaneous emotional behaviour can be used to study cross-cultural variations in the perception of emotion.

Creating a spontaneous conversational speech corpus

Speech recognition and language analysis of spontaneous speech arising in naturally spoken conversations are becoming the subject of much research. However, there is a shortage of spontaneous speech corpora that are freely available for academics. We therefore undertook the building of a natural conversation speech database, recording over 200 hours of conversations in English by over 600 local university students. With few exceptions, the students used their own cell phones from their own rooms or homes to speak to one another, and they were permitted to speak on any topic they chose. Although they knew that they were being recorded and that they would receive a small payment, their conversations in the corpus are probably very close to being natural and spontaneous. This paper describes a detailed case study of the problems we faced and the methods we used to make the recordings and control the collection of these social science data on a limited budget.

The 'Unhomely' White Women of Antillean Writing

While the field known as ‘Whiteness Studies’ has been thriving in Anglophone criticism and theory for over 25 years, it is almost unknown in France. This is partly due to epistemological and political differences, but also to demographic factors — in contrast with the post-plantation culture of the US, for example, whites in Martinique and Guadeloupe are a tiny minority of small island populations. Yet ‘whiteness’ remains a phantasized and a fetishized state in the Antillean imaginary, and is strongly inflected by gender. This article sketches the emergence of ‘white’ femininity during slavery, then examines its representation in the work of a number of major Antillean writers (Condé, Placoly, Confiant, Chamoiseau). In their work, a cluster of recurring images and leitmotifs convey the idealization or, more commonly, the pathologization, of the white woman; these images resonate strongly with Bhabha’s ‘unhomely’, and convey the disturbing imbrication of sex and race in Antillean history.

Self-potential and spectral induced polarization signals associated with microbial sulphate reduction

Self-potential and spectral induced polarization responses associated with microbial processes involved in sulphate reduction have been monitored in a Perspex Winogradsky column filled with glass beads and growth medium. Salt-bridge is utilized as an electrolytic contact between experiment and control column. Equally spaced SP electrodes are used in combination of Ag-AgCl electrodes to compare electrodic and SP signals associated with the microbial processes involved in sulphate reduction. This study reveals that magnitude of SP varies from 5 to -2 mV and Electrodic potential 0 to -20 mV at the time of domination (day 39) of sulphate reducing bacteria which are very small in comparison to those measured by fixing both measuring and reference Ag-AgCl electrodes in experiment column. We observed that real and imaginary parts of complex conductivities increase with increase in production of H2S and CO in the experiment column. Both real and imaginary parts of surface complex conductivity vary at low frequencies similar to typical growth curve of bacterial population. Sodium lactate as a carbon source, dissolved in Lagan River water was flushed into the column for biostimulation on 144th day. The dissolved oxygen in flushed fluid might have killed the anaerobes in the column and decrease in complex conductivities similar to death phase of bacteria is observed for one week. The results obtained from this experiment should contribute to further understanding the biogeophysical responses involved in complex environments.


Read More: http://library.seg.org/doi/abs/10.1190/segj092009-001.57

Refractory cachexia and truth-telling about terminal prognosis; A qualitative study

The purpose of this paper is to examine the consequences that medical practitioners’ decisions about whether or not to be candid about terminal prognosis have for those suffering from refractory cachexia and their families. It presents the findings of a qualitative study which used focus groups and semi-structured interviews of a volunteer sample of doctors, nurses and dieticians in a cancer centre of a large teaching hospital in Northern Ireland. Respondents reported that some physicians tended to avoid discussing terminal prognosis in a direct manner with their patients. Nurses and dieticians tended to be reluctant to engage in conversations about weight loss with patients with cachexia. One of the reasons they reported for their lack of acknowledgement of weight loss concerned the close association between refractory cachexia and terminal prognosis. Because they viewed the telling of bad news as an exclusive prerogative of medical practitioners, they did not feel in a position to discuss cachexia because they were concerned that this had the potential to raise end-of-life issues that lay outside the boundaries of their professional role. This meant patients and their families were provided with little information about how to cope with the distressing consequences of cachexia.

Auditory false perceptions are mediated by psychosis risk factors

Introduction. Auditory hallucinations exist in psychotic disorders as well as the general population. Proneness to hallucinations, as measured by positive schizotypy, predicts false perceptions during an auditory signal detection task (Barkus, Stirling, Hopkins, McKie, & Lewis, 2007). Our aim was to replicate this result and extend it by examining effects of age and sex, both important demographic predictors of psychosis.

Method. A sample of 76 healthy volunteers split into 15-17 years (n = 46) and 19 years plus (n = 30) underwent a signal detection task designed to detect propensity towards false perceptions under ambiguous auditory conditions. Scores on the Unusual Experiences subscale (UE) of the O-LIFE schizotypy scale, IQ, and a measure of working memory were also assessed.

Results. We replicated our initial finding (Barkus et al., 2007): High scores on positive schizotypy were associated with false perceptions. Younger participants who scored highly on positive schizotypy reported significantly more false perceptions compared to other groups (p = .04). Older participants who had had an imaginary friend reported more false perceptions during the signal detection task (p <. 01).

Conclusions. Younger participants seem most vulnerable to the effects of positive schizotypal traits in terms of a signal detection deficit that underlies auditory hallucinations. Schizotypy may have greatest impact closer to the risk period for development of psychotic disorders.

Every Situation has its Rhythm: Acoustic Mimesis and Sonic Exoticism in Tambours Sur La Digue.

This article examines the soundscapes of Ariane Mnouchkine’s Tambours Sur La Digue and explores the concept of acoustic mimesis located in the performance as a dramaturgical strategy to create, aurally, an imagined Far East. In Tambours, mimesis is the performative principle exemplified by the presentation of the mise en scène, and most distinctly Mnouckine’s decision to adapt the Japanese performance tradition of Bunraku through a process of 'reversed' mimicry (in which human bodies simulate the wooden marionettes of the Japanese style). Mimesis pervades the acoustemologies of the performance as it is heard in the extracted sounds, styles, and rhythms of Asian musical modes and movements that consequently become dislocated from context; the sounds become imitated, iconicised and exoticised as sonic signatures as they reify the Orientalist spectacle. The 'oriental' soundscape, reverberating with exotic overtones, becomes the means by which the production creates an imaginary Orient – one in which the Orient Other is silenced, and is resounded only through the musical sensibilities of the Occidental Self.

Jazz in Athens: Frustrated Cosmopolitans in a Music Subculture

This paper presents an ethnographic account of jazz music in Athens. The small scene under scrutiny is mainly populated by professional session instrumentalists of the Greek popular music scene who perform jazz as a side activity for their own pleasure. In the process, they construct a conceptual dichotomy between ‘work’ and ‘play’. Drawing on the author’s extended involvement in this scene, and focusing on private interviews with musicians, this article unveils the discourses of cosmopolitanism invoked through local jazz music making. The ethnographic material presented aims to illustrate how even a small subculture can serve as a terrain for contesting cosmopolitan imaginaries.

Optimization by quantum annealing: Lessons from simple cases

We investigate the basic behavior and performance of simulated quantum annealing (QA) in comparison with classical annealing (CA). Three simple one-dimensional case study systems are considered: namely, a parabolic well, a double well, and a curved washboard. The time-dependent Schrodinger evolution in either real or imaginary time describing QA is contrasted with the Fokker-Planck evolution of CA. The asymptotic decrease of excess energy with annealing time is studied in each case, and the reasons for differences are examined and discussed. The Huse-Fisher classical power law of double-well CA is replaced with a different power law in QA. The multiwell washboard problem studied in CA by Shinomoto and Kabashima and leading classically to a logarithmic annealing even in the absence of disorder turns to a power-law behavior when annealed with QA. The crucial role of disorder and localization is briefly discussed.

(Re)-Introducing Themes of Religion and Spirituality to Professional Social Work Training in the Land of ‘Saints and Scholars’.

This chapter begins by alluding to Ireland’s historical reputation as the land of “Saints and Scholars” and then briefly charts its demise from this position. A parallel process in relation to religiously motivated provision of health and social care is outlined. The inclusion of themes of religion and spirituality within the current professional social work codes in the USA and Britain and the framework for social work training in Northern Ireland is noted. In this context the lack of any substantive inclusion of themes of religion and/or spirituality within the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree at Queens University Belfast will be situated. A series of intersecting reasons for this lack of inclusion are proposed in terms of the experience of living through the recent troubled history of Northern Ireland and a variety of biases in academic thought.
A rationale for the re-introduction of inputs on religion and spirituality is articulated in terms of the widespread resurgence of these themes within health and social care and psychotherapy literature and the new emphasis on practicing in culturally sensitive ways in Britain. The first steps to re-introduce these themes under the higher context marker of “culturally competent practice” are described and an analysis of data from the students’ feedback presented along with illustrative quotations. The dissonance between the initial misgivings of staff and the overwhelmingly positive responses of students are highlighted. The chapter concludes with a discussion of lessons learned through the process with an emphasis on how the inclusion of these themes can result in better practice for service users, including those impacted by “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland.

Service user perspectives on palliative care education for health and social care professionals supporting people with learning disabilities

Background and objectives
Evidence from European and American studies indicates limited referrals of people with learning (intellectual) disabilities to palliative care services. Although professionals’ perceptions of their training needs in this area have been studied, the perceptions of people with learning disabilities and family carers are not known. This study aimed to elicit the views of people with learning disabilities, and their family carers concerning palliative care, to inform healthcare professional education and training.

Methods
A qualitative, exploratory design was used. A total of 17 people with learning disabilities were recruited to two focus groups which took place within an advocacy network. Additionally, three family carers of someone with a learning disability, requiring palliative care, and two family carers who had been bereaved recently were also interviewed.

Results
Combined data identified the perceived learning needs for healthcare professionals. Three subthemes emerged: ‘information and preparation’, ‘provision of care’ and ‘family-centred care’.

Conclusions
This study shows that people with learning disabilities can have conversations about death and dying, and their preferred end-of-life care, but require information that they can understand. They also need to have people around familiar to them and with them. Healthcare professionals require skills and knowledge to effectively provide palliative care for people with learning disabilities and should also work in partnership with their family carers who have expertise from their long-term caring role. These findings have implications for educators and clinicians.

Framed Memories of Berlin:Film, Remembrance and Architecture

In The City of Collective Memory, urban historian Christina Boyer (1994) defines the image of a city as an abstracted concept, an imaginary (re)constructed form. This urban image is created from many aspects, one of which is the framed and edited views and experiences found in films situated in or about a particular city. In this study, to explore the collective memory of the city of Berlin from an architectural point of view, one film from each of the major historical periods of Berlin since the invention of cinema is examined: pre-WWI, interwar period, the Nazi period, post-WWII, Berlin Wall/Cold War, and the reunification period. Memory-making in the city is studied following the footsteps of the protagonists in the films, concluding that film-making and memory-making make use of similar processes, the editing of fragmented pieces of so-called reality, to create its own reality.

'Conditional candour' and 'knowing me': an interpretive description study on patient preferences for physician behaviours during end-of-life communication

OBJECTIVE: To understand patients' preferences for physician behaviours during end-of-life communication.

METHODS: We used interpretive description methods to analyse data from semistructured, one-on-one interviews with patients admitted to general medical wards at three Canadian tertiary care hospitals. Study recruitment took place from October 2012 to August 2013. We used a purposive, maximum variation sampling approach to recruit hospitalised patients aged ≥55 years with a high risk of mortality within 6-12 months, and with different combinations of the following demographic variables: race (Caucasian vs non-Caucasian), gender and diagnosis (cancer vs non-cancer).

RESULTS: A total of 16 participants were recruited, most of whom (69%) were women and 70% had a non-cancer diagnosis. Two major concepts regarding helpful physician behaviour during end-of-life conversations emerged: (1) 'knowing me', which reflects the importance of acknowledging the influence of family roles and life history on values and priorities expressed during end-of-life communication, and (2) 'conditional candour', which describes a process of information exchange that includes an assessment of patients' readiness, being invited to the conversation, and sensitive delivery of information.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that patients prefer a nuanced approach to truth telling when having end-of-life discussions with their physician. This may have important implications for clinical practice and end-of-life communication training initiatives.

Temperature dependence of the mid-infrared dielectric function of YBCO in the ab plane

We have excited mid-infrared surface plasmons in two YBCO thin films of contrasting properties using attenuated total reflection of light and found that the imaginary part of the dielectric function decreases linearly with reduction in temperature. This result is in contrast with the commonly reported conclusion of infrared normal reflectance studies. If sustained it may clarify the problem of understanding the normal state properties of YBCO and the other cuprates. The dielectric function of the films, epsilon = epsilon(1) + i epsilon(2), was determined between room temperature and 80K: epsilon(1) was found to be only slightly temperature dependent but somewhat sample dependent, probably as a result of surface and grain boundary contamination. The imaginary part, epsilon(2), (and the real part of the conductivity, sigma(1),) decreased linearly with reduction in temperature in both films. Results obtained were: for film 1: epsilon(1) = - 14.05 - 0.0024T and epsilon(2) - 4.11 + 0.086T and for film 2: epsilon(1) = - 24.09 + 0.0013T and epsilon(2) = 7.66 + 0.067T where T is the temperature in Kelvin. An understanding of the results is offered in terms of temperature-dependent intrinsic intragrain inelastic scattering and temperature-independent contributions: elastic and inelastic grain boundary scattering and optical interband (or localised charge) absorption. The relative contribution of each is estimated. A key conclusion is that the interband (or localised charge) absorption is only similar to 10%. Most importantly, the intrinsic scattering rate, 1/tau, decreases linearly with fall in temperature, T, in a regime where current theory predicts dependence on frequency, omega, to dominate. The coupling constant, lambda, between the charge carriers and the thermal excitations has a value of 1.7, some fivefold greater than the far infrared value. These results imply a need to restate the phenomenology of the normal state of high temperature superconductors and seek a corresponding theoretical understanding.