Yes / Purpose Refractive blur is associated with decreased hazard perception and impairments in driving performance, but little is known about why people who have spectacles to correct their distance vision drive with uncorrected vision. Methods We conducted six focus groups. Participants were 30 drivers (mean age 45) who reported having driven uncorrected at least twice in the past six months despite having spectacles to correct their distance vision. Focus groups were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results We identified three themes. 1. Responsibility: participants did not feel obliged to drive with optimal vision and believed that others have a responsibility to ensure drivers maintain clear vision. 2. Safe Enough: participants felt safe to drive uncorrected, did not believe they need to wear spectacles to see sufficiently clearly and that they would know if their uncorrected eyesight fails to meet minimum standards. 3. Situations: participants discussed how they would drive uncorrected for short and familiar journeys, when they feel alert, in daylight and in good weather. Conclusions Beliefs about the importance of driving with clear vision compete with the benefits of not wearing spectacles. Eyecare professionals should provide more direct advice to patients regarding the need to wear their visual correction for driving.

No description available.

<p>There are various dual process models of human cognition. While many models of cognitive control propose processes that are selected exclusively or in combination, a default-interventionist model of reasoning assumes that processing occurs in serial stages. System 1 processes are believed to recruit unconscious memory retrieval processes by default and precede System 2 processes (Evans & Stanovich, 2013; Kahneman, 2011). System 1 processes are also considered to be overly sensitive to the automatic influences of the environment and thereby also to various cognitive biases and errors; hence System 1 is inferior. On the other hand System 2, which represent conscious logic and normative reasoning processes, is not considered susceptible to such automatic influences and thereby capable of overriding errors made through System 1 reasoning; hence System 2 is superior. This default-interventionist model has become highly influential in theories about best practices in medical education (Croskerry, 2009; 2003; Klein, 2005; Redelmeier, 2005), and has encouraged a view that increased conscious processing and reflective thought will improve performance. Such a view is in stark contrast to models of human memory in psychology that suggest contextual or automatic influences of the environment are not only critical for learning, but also critical for adaptive processing and the development of expertise (Yonelinas, 2002; Larsen & Roediger, 2012). In this thesis I investigate and critique several assumptions of the default-interventionist model by testing the relationship between processing time, reflective thought, experience and accuracy. The results of two large studies do not support basic assumptions presented in the literature and instead demonstrate that experience and knowledge are better predictors of performance.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Bereavement is painful at any time of life. For young children experiencing bereavement, grandmothers are often the first line of defense. Grandmothers are frequently called upon when their family members experience an out-of-order death, and while they are willing to provide care, grandmothers don't always know the best way forward. This qualitative study sought to learn more about the grief experiences of 22 grandmothers who had lost a family member prematurely through semi-structured interviews and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Findings suggest (a) grandmothers experience layered grief in that they grieve the loss of the family member, experience the pain of the surviving family members, and their own pain; (b) grandmothers experience invisible grief as their feelings are not often revealed to or recognized by their family members; (c) grandmothers experience confusion in knowing how to help and attend to their family members who are bereaved. These difficulties seem related to the family relationships, the connection to the person who died (their own child or an in-law child or grandchild), what they are grieving, and their ability to develop new roles and relationships during the bereavement period.

No description available.

This study applies bereavement and media use theoretical perspectives to examine how survivors use media to cope with spousal loss during the first two years. Specifically, this study explores whether survivors’ television use is associated with grief intensity. Potential associations between television use and grief intensity are explored using an online survey. A media use for coping scale is developed. The relationship between television oscillation (i.e., equal use of television for respite, and to cope with primary and secondary stressors) and grief intensity is also explored, and ten specific moderators of this relationship are examined: recency of loss, type of loss, social support, family proximity and contact, marital relationship quality, economic stability, pre-existing physical and mental health issues, and change in television use. Results were collected from 356 spousal survivors and indicate that television use to cope is associated with grief intensity. Survivors that report high television use in general are using more television for relaxation, companionship, acceptance, positive reinterpretation and growth, and emotional and instrumental support. The most dramatic effects are observed with television use for relaxation and companionship, and the smallest effects with television use for emotional and instrumental support. However, there was no association between television use for respite, or to cope with primary and secondary stressors and grief intensity. Results support the value of social support, family contact at the time of loss, fewer physical health issues, and decreasing general television use in promoting more positive bereavement outcomes. Results support television oscillation as a predictor of grief intensity, but only under certain circumstances. Four of the models show significant moderator effects between television oscillation and grief intensity: social support at the time of loss, family contact at the time of loss, pre-existing physical health issues, and change in television use since the loss. When survivors have less social support at the time of loss, television oscillation is associated with less grief intensity as predicted. However, when survivors have more social support, television oscillation is marginally associated with more grief intensity. Likewise, when survivors have less family contact, television oscillation is associated with less grief intensity as predicted. Conversely, when survivors have more family contact, television oscillation is associated with more grief intensity. When survivors have more pre-existing physical health issues, television oscillation is not associated with grief intensity as predicted. For survivors with fewer pre-existing physical health issues, television oscillation is associated with less grief intensity. When survivors decrease television use by approximately one hour, television oscillation is marginally associated with less grief intensity. On the other hand, when survivors increase television use, television oscillation is not associated with grief intensity. Current general television use was a highly significant control variable in all moderator analyses indicating more television use to cope is associated with more grief intensity. Recency, type of loss, marital relationship quality, family proximity, economic stability, and pre-existing mental health issues did not significantly moderate the relationship between television oscillation and grief intensity. This study extends previous work by merging the bereavement and media use literatures, and in the development of a media use for coping scale. Moreover, it provides important empirical evidence on theoretical models about bereavement. This expands the potential for discussions about the association of individual vulnerabilities with more positive bereavement outcomes.

No description available.

Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om mental trötthet leder till ökad diskriminering av överviktiga. Genom att använda en dual process-modell, inleddes undersökningen med en bedömningsuppgift som deltagarna fick utföra i labbmiljö. Vid ett senare tillfälle fick var och en ombesörja att de genomförde ett implicit associationstest (IAT), följt av en explicit graderingsfråga, där deltagarna uppskattade en eventuell skillnad i normal- kontra överviktigas mentala prestation. Syftet med dessa tester var att ta reda på om diskriminering mot överviktiga existerade inom gruppen i sin helhet på såväl implicit som explicit nivå. Hälften av gruppen hade genomgått en kraftig mental trötthetsbelastning före bedömningsuppgiften, med avsikt att se om bias mot överviktiga ökade vid mental trötthet. Resultatet för alla testningar var för sig visade på diskriminering mot överviktiga, men inte att det förekom någon högre diskriminering vid mental trötthet. Möjliga förbättringar i undersökningsdesignen diskuteras, liksom praktiska implikationer. / This study examined whether mental fatigue leads to increased discrimination against the obese. Using a dual process model, participants took part in an assessment task in a controlled laboratory setting, and thereafter completed an implicit association test (IAT), followed by an explicit question, where participants were asked to grade variances in the mental capacity between normal- versus overweight individuals. The intention was to explore possible obesity discrimination. Half of the group previously completed a strenuous memory task, with the purpose of achieving severe fatigue, in order to explore whether the bias increases with mental fatigue. Although the results revealed discrimination in all tests, there was no evidence of increased discrimination in mental fatigue. Possible improvement in the research design is discussed, as well as practical implications.

This thesis provides an ethnographic account of the journey from diagnosis with a life-limiting illness to the end of life. It tracks the lives and eventual deaths of eight people and 83 family members for a period of three and a half years in total. Culture is located as a central element or lens by which to view this journey. The role, function and issues for social work as a profession are discussed in various chapters. The theoretical underpinnings of the thesis are informed by the ecological perspective combined with psychosocial theories of loss and grief. Drawing on a broad social systems theory, in conjunction with an ethnographic methodology and grounded theory analysis, contributes to the development of research which firmly takes culture into account. Four primary topic areas are presented: a narrative exploration of diagnosis, the changing landscape that participants encounter, the embodiment of new places and spaces, and finally, the journey’s end. The themes from the four topic areas contribute to the development of the two core categories “time and place” and “preparedness for death”. A schematic representation of the paths participants took is provided in the discussion of the core categories. Lastly, the New Zealand Palliative Care Strategy (Ministry of Health, 2001) is drawn on to aid the discussion of issues arising from the research and the implications for practice in this field.

Two studies were conducted to support the dual process model of moral decision making, which states that there are two pathways to moral decisions: one emotional and the other cognitive. Decisions made in personal dilemmas are driven by emotions and intuition, while decisions made in impersonal dilemmas are driven by cognitive factors. Intuitive, emotional reactions tend to lead to non-utilitarian decisions while deliberative reasoning tends to lead to utilitarian decisions. For the current studies, undergraduate students from the University of North Florida completed working memory tests, an empathy scale, and also responded to moral dilemma scenarios. In the second study, participants were asked to respond to the moral dilemma scenarios in the following conditions: baseline, working memory condition (counting task), cold water (cold pressor task), and warm water. In Study 1, participants in the high working memory group had slower reaction times while responding to self dilemmas. In Study 2, the empathy item “I feel other people’s joy” was the best predictor of participants’ utilitarian decisions. These results are framed in terms of the dual process model and possible directions for future research.