355 research outputs found
The multitasking framework: the effects of increasing workload on acute psychobiological stress reactivity
No full textA variety of techniques exist for eliciting acute psychological stress in the laboratory; however, they vary in terms of their ease of use, reliability to elicit consistent responses and the extent to which they represent the stressors encountered in everyday life. There is, therefore, a need to develop simple laboratory techniques that reliably elicit psychobiological stress reactivity that are representative of the types of stressors encountered in everyday life. The multitasking framework is a performance-based, cognitively demanding stressor, representative of environments where individuals are required to attend and respond to several different stimuli simultaneously with varying levels of workload. Psychological (mood and perceived workload) and physiological (heart rate and blood pressure) stress reactivity was observed in response to a 15-min period of multitasking at different levels of workload intensity in a sample of 20 healthy participants. Multitasking stress elicited increases in heart rate and blood pressure, and increased workload intensity elicited dose–response increases in levels of perceived workload and mood. As individuals rarely attend to single tasks in real life, the multitasking framework provides an alternative technique for modelling acute stress and workload in the laboratory
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Negotiating hegemonic masculinity: imaginary positions and psycho-discursive practices
No full textIn this paper we provide a critical analysis of the concept of hegemonic masculinity. We argue that although this concept embodies important theoretical insights, it is insufficiently developed as it stands to enable us to understand how men position themselves as gendered beings. In particular it offers a vague and imprecise account of the social psychological reproduction of male identities. We outline an alternative critical discursive psychology of masculinity. Drawing on data from interviews with a sample of men from a range of ages and from diverse occupational backgrounds, we delineate three distinctive, yet related, procedures or psycho-discursive practices, through which men construct themselves as masculine. The political implications of these discursive practices, as well as the broader implications of treating the psychological process of identification as form of discursive accomplishment, are also discussed
You gotta light? On the luxury of context for understanding talk in interaction
No full textTo deal with some current debates about the analytic validity of 'contextual' details in the analysis of talk-in-interaction, we (Alec McHoul and Mark Rapley) work through two cases. The first is hypothetical and derives from the current literature in speech-act-theory-inspired pragmatics (Capone, 2005). The second is actual and arises from our initial disagreement with an earlier publication by one of our colleagues (Antaki, 1998). What we hope to show is that the idea of context is, itself, something of a moveable feast; that it can have multiple formations ranging from the broadly political to the almost-but-not-quite effect of surface texts and their sequential implications. In this respect, we hope to ease tensions between otherwise cognate approaches to the analysis of talk-in-interaction. Our argument is that, if context is hearable in the talk as such, then it can't be ignored by analysts. In section 3 of the paper (and precisely so as not to make this a 'contestation'), Charles responds in his own terms and to see what kind of mutual footing there may (or may not) be for all involved in the analysis of talk vis-à-vis questions of context. If there is an upshot of the paper as a whole it is that further work on the 'context question' in studies of talk-in-interaction could well entail a return to (and perhaps a respecification of) the foundational ethnomethodological question of the status of 'members' knowledge'
Type D personality and cardiovascular reactivity to an ecologically valid multitasking stressor.
No full textPrevious research investigating the influence of Type D personality on cardiovascular reactivity to stress in healthy young adults is somewhat mixed. The present study sought to investigate this question using an ecologically valid laboratory stressor. Beat-to-beat blood pressure and heart rate were measured in 77 healthy young adults during exposure to multitasking stress. Mood and background stress were both associated with Type D personality when Type D was conceptualised as a dimensional construct, with less robust findings observed using the traditional dichotomous typological approach. However, the continuous Type D construct added limited predictive value of the self-report measures above that of its constituent components, negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI). Further, an inverse relationship between the continuous Type D construct and blood pressure reactivity to multitasking stress was observed. In summary, our findings suggest that Type D personality is predictive of blunted cardiovascular reactivity to stress in healthy individuals when Type D is considered as a dimensional construct and the independent influence of NA and SI is controlled for. Further, our findings suggest that Type D does not predict additional variance in mood and background stress above that of NA and SI when these constituent factors are considered independently
The effects of being in a "new relationship" on levels of testosterone in men
No full textIn light of previous research showing that different types of relationships affect levels of testosterone in men, this study examined whether categorizing relationship types according to relationship length can shed further light on variations in levels of testosterone. Salivary testosterone samples were obtained from a sample of men and details about their relationship status, sociosexual orientation, extra-pair sexual interest, and their perceptions of their relationships were recorded. Using a median split analysis, participants who indicated that they had been in their relationship for less than 12 months were categorized as being in “new relationships” and those in longer relationships being categorized as in long-term relationships. Results showed that levels of testosterone of single men and men in new relationships did not differ, but both had significantly greater levels of testosterone than men in long-term relationships. Differences in levels of testosterone were unrelated to sociosexual orientation and extra-pair sexual interest. These findings support the evolutionary explanation of levels of testosterone in men varying in accordance with their internal motivation to seek new potential mates
Assessing the daily stability of the cortisol awakening response in a controlled environment
No full textBackground
Levels of cortisol, the end product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, display a sharp increase immediately upon awakening, known as the cortisol awakening response (CAR). The daily stability of the CAR is potentially influenced by a range of methodological factors, including light exposure, participant adherence, sleep duration and nocturnal awakenings, making inferences about variations in the CAR difficult. The aim of the present study was to determine the daily stability of multiple measurement indices of the CAR in a highly-controlled sleep laboratory environment. A secondary aim was to examine the association between objective sleep continuity and sleep architecture, and the CAR.
Methods
The CAR was assessed in 15 healthy normal sleepers (seven male, eight female, Mage = 23.67 ± 3.49 years) on three consecutive weekday mornings. Sleep was measured objectively using polysomnography. Saliva samples were obtained at awakening, +15, +30, +45 and +60 min, from which multiple CAR measurement indices were derived: cortisol levels at each time point, awakening cortisol levels, the mean increase in cortisol levels (MnInc) and total cortisol secretion during the measurement period. Morning 2 and Morning 3 awakening cortisol levels, MnInc and total cortisol secretion were compared and the relationship between Night 1 and Night 2 objective measures of sleep continuity and architecture, and the subsequent CAR, was also assessed.
Results
There were no differences in cortisol levels at each time point, or total cortisol secretion during the CAR period, between Morning 2 and Morning 3. Awakening cortisol levels were lower, and the MnInc was higher, on Morning 3. Morning 2 and Morning 3 awakening levels (r = 0.77) and total cortisol secretion (r = 0.82), but not the magnitude of increase, were positively associated.
Conclusions
The stability of the CAR profile and total cortisol secretion, but not awakening cortisol levels or the magnitude of increase, was demonstrated across two consecutive mornings of measurement in a highly-controlled environment. Awakening cortisol levels, and the magnitude of increase, may be sensitive to differences in daily activities
An exploration into physiological and self-report measures of stress in pre-registration doctors at the beginning and end of a clinical rotation
No full textThe first year practising medicine, pre-registration, is considered to be a stressful time for junior doctors. The aims of this study were to explore how levels of psychological distress were affected by changes in the working environment and to examine these effects across subjective (i.e. self-report) and objective (i.e. stress hormone cortisol) indices of psychological distress. A cohort of 36 pre-registration house officers (males = 15) completed a battery of psychosocial measures and collected salivary samples for the measurement of diurnal cortisol at the beginning and end of a 3–4-month clinical rotation with the assumption that the end of a rotation would be less stressful than the beginning. Results from the self-report measures remained constant over the two-time points suggesting no perceived change in emotional well-being on a subjective level. However, there is some evidence of neuro-endocrine changes across the two time points suggestive of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis dysregulation. In particular, there was a significant difference between the cortisol awakening rise with the greatest rise seen at the beginning of a rotation. In addition, the daily cortisol decline (diurnal slope) was also significantly less at this test time. These findings have implications for the discord apparent between self-report and physiological measures of psychological stress
Memory failures for everyday tasks in caregivers of children with autism
No full textThe stress of caring for a loved one with chronic illness has been linked with impairments in cognitive processes such as attention and problem solving, though few studies have examined the impact on memory. Compromised cognition, in particular, aspects of everyday functioning such as remembering medical instructions and appointments, might affect caregivers' ability to maintain the consistency and quality of care needed by the child. A sample of 31 caregivers of children with autism and 51 parents of neuro-typical children completed an electronic survey assessing their levels of psychological distress and everyday memory. Perceived stress scores were higher in the caregiver group, as were self-reported memory failures for everyday tasks. The negative impact of caregiver stress on everyday memory was particularly salient among caregivers experiencing higher perceived levels of stress. These findings have implications for interventions that aim to improve caregivers' cognitive well being through targeting the psychological sequelae associated with the caregiving experience
Secretory immunoglobulin A reactivity following increases in workload intensity using the defined intensity stressor simulation (DISS)
No full textBoundaries and Agency in Climate Uncertainty : Encountering Traditional Knowledge at the Edges of Science
No full textClimate change has become an important and politicallycharged
arena where traditional indigenous knowledges meet Western scientific knowledge. The positioning of Arctic science, at the edges of the scientific discourse but the centre of the climate change debate, makes it a philosophically probable and politically crucial location for questioning
the foundations of Western science. By critically examining northern research that attempts to bridge the gap between traditional and scientific understandings of climate change, I ask the question, what do these meetings reveal about science? Studying how traditional knowledge appears through the lens of science can reveal much about
science itself. In its attempt to predict the future, science becomes engaged in a neverending battle with uncertainty, but a core element of climate change is increased uncertainty. I discuss how more data may not provide the hoped for answers, but a change in attitude towards uncertainty might. Unlike science, traditional knowledge is more accepting of uncertainty, and while this is often attributed to spiritual elements, the
key is nonhuman agency. I introduce new materialism as an emerging philosophy which restores agency to the nonhuman world through its holistic ontologyepistemology, offering science the possibility of accepting uncertainty without invoking spirituality. When traditional knowledge and science meet, boundaries can be created, reinforced, or overcome. By dissolving boundaries without erasing differences, new materialism
offers the potential of decolonizing the Western scientific paradigm, thus opening it up to alternative ways of understanding and allowing it to be more effectively used as one of many tools in coping with climate change on both local and international scales
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