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The Influence of Sport Expertise on Response and Cognitive Inhibition
Get PDFResearch suggests that sporting experts show better response inhibition. Less is known about how expert athletes use cognitive inhibition. Experts may cognitively inhibit, or ‘forget’, previous errors via an expertise-induced-amnesia which suggests that experts have impoverished episodic memory due to the reduced task attention when performing well-rehearsed actions. This amnesia may be relevant at low-pressure, but most interestingly may be more of a factor at high-pressure. The aim of the present study was to examine whether sporting expertise predicted response inhibition (effectiveness and efficiency) and cognitive inhibition (error awareness) at low-pressure and high-pressure, respectively. Forty-five participants from various sports (static, interceptive or strategic) completed Swann et al.’s (2015) measure of sporting expertise and a modified Stop Signal Task under two pressure conditions (manipulated via divergent task instruction). Regression results suggested that expertise only significantly predicted response inhibition effectiveness and efficiency at high-pressure. Interestingly, error awareness at high- and low-pressure were independent of sporting expertise. Finally, change scores across pressure conditions were small and near zero for all participants, not just experts, suggesting that all individuals performed similarly across low- and high-pressure conditions. Sporting expertise appears to facilitate response inhibition at high-pressure but the exact methods in which experts ‘forget’ errors and maintain performance remains unknown
From the School Gym to Adulthood: Gendered Pathways of Physical Education and Post-Divorce Physical Activity in China
Get PDFChinese scholarship under-examines how gender intersects with health and physical education (HPE) curricula and girls’ PE experiences — particularly in shaping physical activity (PA) participation across the lifespan. Western research shows that single mothers exhibit lower PA levels and higher health-risk levels than married mothers do, yet research investigating Chinese single mothers’ PA is particularly sparse despite a surging divorce rate. This study examines how gender and HPE curricula across educational stages in China have influenced girls’ PE experiences and how these experiences have shaped divorced single mothers’ (DSMs) adult PA participation. Twenty-eight semi-structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis and interpreted through gender socialisation and post-socialist feminism. Results manifest that gender and HPE curricula collectively produced gendered PE engagement regarding PA types, intensity, and duration through girls’ interactions with PE teachers and peers, and gendered expectations reinforced girls’ marginalisation. Evidence indicates that gender inequality in PE and expectations placed on DSMs jointly contribute to low health and PA awareness and reduce adult PA, particularly post-divorce. These findings highlight the necessity of structural and cultural shifts to disrupt entrenched gender norms, promote gender-equitable HPE curriculum, support girls’ active engagement in PE, and advance DSMs’ access to health, PA, and self-care.
Keywords: Health and physical education, physical activity, gender, divorced single mothers, gender socialisation, post-socialist feminis
Enduring hope and loss: qualitative evidence synthesis of LGBTQ+ experiences of perinatal loss
Get PDFIntroduction:
Perinatal healthcare systems, services and research are shaped by cisheteronormative assumptions, i.e. that families involve one woman who carries a pregnancy and one man who is a non-carrying partner; furthermore, assuming that conception has usually resulted from sexual intercourse, with both parties providing gametes. These assumptions obscure and sometimes exacerbate LGBTQ+ people’s experiences and needs. This evidence synthesis aimed to identify and bring together the experiences of LGBTQ+ people who have faced pregnancy or baby loss; collectively perinatal loss.
Methods:
A qualitative evidence synthesis was conducted using systematic methods. Relevant databases were systematically searched using predefined search terms, and complimented by citation chaining. Eligibility was restricted to empirical qualitative studies published in English, unrestricted by participants’ relationship to the loss (i.e. physically pregnant or not - sometimes respectively described as gestational/birthing or non-gestational/non-birthing parent), type of perinatal loss (e.g. miscarriage, stillbirth), time since loss, setting, publication date, or type of qualitative methodology. Study selection followed a multi-stage screening process. Thematic synthesis was used to analyse and interpret patterns of meaning across included studies.
Results:
Seven studies met the eligibility criteria, reported across 10 papers. All seven were conducted in the Global North (including North America, Australia, and Europe). Thematic synthesis generated one overarching theme - enduring hope and loss – which captured the layers of loss experienced by LGBTQ+ people. This included the complexity of loss, and the loss commonly not being felt as an isolated incident, but rather part of a longer process. The three connected themes were: 1. Investment, which included the effort of navigating cisheteronormative systems, frequently after investing time, finances and emotions in assisted conception. 2. Support in relation to loss, highlighting the challenges of accessing support while being marginalised, excluded, or feeling invisible and, at times, unsafe as an LGBTQ+ family. 3. Meaning-making, in the immediate experience of loss, the aftermath of loss and the care received, and the time beyond.
Conclusion:
Cisheteronormative systems and interactions have potential to amplify loss and contribute to feelings of disenfranchisement amongst LGBTQ+ people. Further research is needed to evaluate support provided, inclusive of implications for subsequent reproductive choices
A crisis in care: the devaluation of fundamental nursing skills places pressure on the global delivery of health and social care
No full textThe depiction of the British constitution in caricature, 1784-1819
No full textThere is a different, important but underexplored source of British constitutional meaning and history: visual, satirical caricature, that is, pictures – prints – that give us an account of the past. They allow those with an interest in the constitution and political machinations to see how these events were depicted by witnesses to what was then breaking news. The caricatures were never a truly accurate representation. They were intended to convey particular viewpoints, often satirical and humourous. Such prints often reflected the views of those who paid for them to be created and published or the artist’s own political views. Alternatively, the prints were produced because the artist believed they would sell well. A print critical of Charles James Fox might sell more copies than one depicting William Pitt the Younger. Irrespective, such caricatures embody important constitutional meaning and deserve to be revisited. To this end, this chapter takes five prints published between 1784 and 1819 during the reign of George III and examines them as leading works of the constitution, which provide considerable insight into the constitution. The caricatures represent how the population may have engaged with and understood the representation of contemporary constitutional events. Today, these prints, and many others remain a visible legacy of the past and are still easily recognisable, and the most famous are often imitated by contemporary cartoonists to make a point
Looking past the stereotypes – Disabled people as foster carers
Get PDFEngland has seen a progressive decline in the number of approved fostering households, whereas the number of children needing foster homes has increased. To address these disparities, this research explored whether an inclusive approach is taken to encourage Disabled people to become foster carers. The two-year co-produced project was part of the Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning (DRILL) initiative, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. Led by the University of Worcester, the authors worked with four fostering organisations. The methodology comprised an online survey to gauge the level of disability awareness in these organisations, followed up by a customised training session for each site. Findings from the training days and a further workforce survey indicated that fostering social workers recognised that disability and foster care were not mutually exclusive, and that Disabled people could provide a valuable part of the workforce, although they were not routinely recruited. For Disabled people to be afforded equal opportunity as foster carers, it was acknowledged that non-discriminatory practice must become standard practice, necessitating significant changes at both institutional and professional practice levels
The Ebb and Flow of Feeling and Display in Research: Intermittent ‘Failure of Face’ while Conducting a Workplace Ethnography
No full textPurpose – The author responds to the call for papers on 'navigating failure in ethnography' published in the Journal of Organizational Ethnography. This paper explores the 'successes' and 'failures' of the researcher’s emotional labour while conducting a workplace ethnography, reflecting on their positionality as both a worker and researcher in a public house (pub) setting.
Design/methodology/approach – The author conducted a year-long hybrid ethnographic study in a pub and employed methods of participant observation, observant participation, and interviews. This resulted in over 1,200 fieldnote entries, of which more than 390 referenced 'success' and 'failure' in his display and management of emotion while working as a bartender. Fieldnotes were analysed inductively through thematic analysis.
Findings – Using organisational requirements for feeling and display as a benchmark for the author’s success and failure, the findings indicate that he was, or assumed he was, largely effective in performing emotional labour. However, his service “shield” occasionally slipped, leading to instances of constrained or unfiltered rejection of performative expectations. This resulted in research-related anxieties that prompted the researcher to engage in damage control to 'save face’.
Originality – The author argues that the passive stance typically adopted by scholars studying emotional labour reflects a lack of intimate understanding of a job role, hindering a deeper grasp of the demands in the workplace. In addition to examining both successes and failures, this paper enriches the concept of emotional labour by offering a nuanced account of the researcher’s personal experience as a bartender, detailing moments in which they 'served,' 'failed,' and 'saved face' throughout the investigative process. The author also asserts that managing performance failure is an essential component of doing this type of ethnographic research
Time for a Change in the ways that UK Health Services categorise Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers
No full textThe physical and mental health of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers is among the worst of any ethnic minorities in the UK. Part of the reason for this is because health services do not collect accurate data about the ethnic backgrounds of patients and are therefore unable to plan for the most appropriate types of services.
The University of Worcester co-produced research across the UK, using both focus group and survey methodologies.
Recommendations were made that all UK health services should adopt a new template which reflected a far wider range of ethnicities than currently captured. Better categorisation, staff training and welcome should lead to better health outcomes
Martin Lipscomb: ‘Questioning the Use Value of Qualitative Research Findings’ (2012)
No full textThis article discusses a paper by Martin Lipscomb, published in 2012. Martin's paper asks whether the findings in qualitative nursing research can provide evidence robust enough to inform nursing practice. Martin appraises various arguments designed to establish that qualitative studies do provide a basis for action, and concludes that they fail. I provide a commentary on the paper, and then look at more recent attempts to vindicate the use value of qualitative research. I argue that the question ‘What requirements must qualitative studies meet if they are to serve as a basis for future action?’ has only one persuasive answer. Unfortunately, the relevant requirements are not met by the majority of qualitative studies in nursing
Organizational and Personal Barriers to Physical Activity An Intersectional Analysis of Divorced Single Mothers in China’s IT and Internet Industries
Get PDFGlobal gender disparities have been identified in physical activity (PA) with women, particularly single mothers, experiencing a higher physical inactivity rate than men, thus facing higher health risks. Recent research discovered that workplace culture produced barriers to women’s PA participation. The pervasive overtime culture, particularly in China’s IT/Internet industries, is reported as a main source of stress for professional women. Divorced single mothers (DSMs) in that sector may face unique barriers to PA participation arising from the intersection of overtime culture, gender, single motherhood, a male-dominated work environment, and financial difficulties, yet research has underexplored their experiences especially from intersectional perspectives. This paper draws on intersectionality and workplace masculinity culture to analyse interview-based data and investigate this issue. Organizational barriers include conflict between the male-oriented workplace PA schedule and parental responsibilities, conflict between high worktime demands and PA time, limited access to workplace PA facilities, and unequal, gendered workplace PA resource allocation. Personal barriers range from time limitations, low motivation and energy levels, financial constraints, and mental and physical health challenges. Our findings suggest that enhancing women’s PA participation requires both organizational and structural support and targeted incentives to remove constraints and promote women’s active engagement in China