Biomedical subjects

June J Pilcher

Publications and source records attributed to June J Pilcher.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Self-report naps in irregular work schedules.

Few studies have examined napping in irregular work schedules such as those experienced by freight locomotive engineers. The current study examined the effect of napping in irregular work schedules on sleep length and three subjective measures: ability to go to sleep, ability to stay asleep, and a feeling of being well-rested upon awakening. One hundred and seventy-nine freight engineers completed a 14-d activity log, providing information on sleep times and subjective evaluations of sleep. The results indicated that days with naps resulted in significantly more total sleep but less sleep in the main sleep period of the day. The days with naps also resulted in somewhat more difficulty with going to sleep, staying asleep and with feeling well-rested upon awakening. It is important to note, however, that when examining the days with naps, nap length was not significantly correlated with main sleep time, ability to go to sleep, ability to stay asleep, or feeling well-rested upon awakening. These results suggest that napping may be useful when working irregular work schedules if the engineer is willing to accept a slight decrease in ability to go to sleep, stay asleep, and feeling rested.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Evaluating evidence of psychological adaptation: how do we know one when we see one?

Evolutionary psychologists argue that human nature contains many discrete psychological adaptations. Each adaptation is theorized to have been functional in humans' ancestral past, and empirical evidence that an attribute is an adaptation can come from showing it possesses complexity, efficiency, universality, and other features of special design. In this article, we present a tutorial review of the evidentiary forms that evolutionary psychologists commonly use to document the existence of human adaptations. We also present a heuristic framework for integrating and evaluating cross-disciplinary evidence of adaptation. Pregnancy sickness, incest avoidance, men's desires for multiple sex partners, and an easily learned fear of snakes are evaluated as possible human adaptations using this framework. We conclude that future research and teaching in evolutionary psychology would benefit from more fully utilizing cross-disciplinary frameworks to evaluate evidence of human adaptation.

Adaptation, Biological↗

PubMed2003

Assessing subjective daytime sleepiness: an internal state versus behavior approach.

The authors' purpose in the current study was to apply P. J. Lang's (1968, 1971, 1985) theory of multiple systems of emotional response to the study of subjective sleepiness. A total of 274 participants completed the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS), the Profile of Mood States (POMS), three sleepiness-related Visual Analogue Scales (VAS), and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). The authors completed correlations and factor analysis of the 4 sleepiness measures. The SSS, POMS, and VAS measures were better correlated with each other than with the ESS. Similarly, the SSS, POMS, and VAS measures loaded highly onto one factor, whereas the ESS loaded highly onto a separate factor. These results indicated that the ESS measured a different aspect of subjective sleepiness than the SSS, POMS, or VAS. According to Lang's emotional responses theory, the ESS assessed a behavioral component of sleepiness, and the SSS, POMS, and VAS measures assessed an internal state related to sleepiness.

Affect↗

PubMed2002

Effects of hot and cold temperature exposure on performance: a meta-analytic review.

A meta-analysis to mathematically summarize the effect of hot and cold temperature exposure on performance was completed. The results from 515 effect sizes calculated from 22 original studies suggest that hot and cold temperatures negatively impact performance on a wide range of cognitive-related tasks. More specifically, hot temperatures of 90 degrees F (32.22 degrees C) Web Bulb Globe Temperature Index or above and cold temperatures of 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) or less resulted in the greatest decrement in performance in comparison to neutral temperature conditions (14.88% decrement and 13.91% decrement, respectively). Furthermore, the duration of exposure to the experimental temperature, the duration of exposure to the experimental temperature prior to the task onset, the type of task and the duration of the task had differential effects on performance. The current results indicate that hot and cold temperature exposure have a negative impact on performance and that other variables (e.g., length of exposure to the temperature or task duration) may modify this relationship.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2002

Person-centered approach to care, teaching, and research in fibromyalgia syndrome: justification from biopsychosocial perspectives in populations.

OBJECTIVES: To describe complex interactions of multiple factors believed to contribute to fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) at a person-centered level to enhance approaches to care, teaching, and research. The main factors addressed were central nervous system sensory sensitization, autonomic nervous system (ANS) activation, neurohumoral perturbations, and psychosocial and environmental stressors. A person-centered approach is defined as attention to major biopsychosocial issues of affected individuals. METHODS: Literature on classification, mechanistic pathways, course and outcomes, and management of FMS was reviewed to assess applications of person-centered approaches to care, teaching, and research. Various biopsychosocial influences were considered in relation to the heterogeneous subjective manifestations of this illness, including central hyperalgesia, ANS and other neurohumoral perturbations, functional hyperexcitability, nonrestorative sleep, and psychologic distress. RESULTS: A person-centered approach to FMS can expand on and strengthen traditional biomedical concepts. Adding such a focus can help to untangle current controversies in the course, outcomes, and treatment of FMS. A person-centered approach can also help in the subgrouping of affected patients for greater specificity in care programs and in improved clinical investigations. In the biomedical model, diverse symptoms of FMS are often addressed separately and apart from their interconnectedness and linkages to the patient's individualized biopsychosocial factors. However, the causes of FMS symptomatology are not likely to be caused by uniform biologic abnormalities across populations. Rather, the syndrome likely results from personal reactivities to varied multifactorial biopsychosocial influences. Common denominators among individuals may include varying degrees of ANS activation (or personal susceptibility to ANS activation), nonrestorative sleep, negative affectivity, and other central pain sensitization mechanisms, among the pathways reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: Innovative analytical methodologies will need to be developed to more effectively investigate complex interacting biopsychosocial dynamics at a person-centered level, including qualitative research, and multifactorial and multilevel techniques. Adding person-centered approaches to biopsychosocial concepts of FMS promises to show new physiopathogenetic insights and more effective treatment than current biomedical models alone. Person-centered approaches enhance patient-physician relationships and help prioritize patients' goals in mutually derived treatment plans.

Adolescent↗