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PubMed1994

Discrimination between and among schizophrenics and other pathologies using a Spanish version of the Whitaker Index of Schizophrenic Thinking.

A Spanish version of Forms A and B of the Whitaker Index of Schizophrenic Thinking (WIST) was administered to two sets of subjects. In the first study, the WIST was administered to 147 subjects of both sexes grouped into one of six categories: acute paranoid schizophrenic, acute nonparanoid schizophrenic, chronic paranoid schizophrenic, chronic nonparanoid schizophrenic, normal, and university student. Results revealed significant group differences; schizophrenics scored significantly higher. Further, chronic schizophrenics, regardless of the existence of paranoia, scored higher than acute subjects. In the second study, a heterogenous group of schizophrenics was compared to heroin addicts and depressed subjects (total N = 93). Significant group differences again were noted; the schizophrenics scored higher than the two other clinical samples.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The positive psychology of negative thinking.

As the positive psychology movement gains momentum, both within psychology and in the broader culture, it becomes increasingly important to ensure that the complexity of individual personality and psychological processes do not get lost in a "one-size-fits-all" approach to improving human functioning. In this article, we consider some of the ways that the costs and benefits of different kinds of optimism and pessimism may vary across different individuals, situations, and cultural contexts. We use defensive pessimism research to illustrate that there are times when pessimism and negative thinking are indeed positive psychology, as they lead to better performance and personal growth. We also consider the ways in which dominant American culture--and research in psychology--may underestimate some of the costs of optimism.

Affect↗

PubMed1985

Differences in women's and men's thinking about parent-child interactions.

To determine if young women and men think differently about parenting when presented with the same information, a factorial between-subjects experiment was conducted. Two case studies (one successful, one unsuccessful) were evaluated; they varied only in terms of parent sex and child sex. Respondents explained parenting performance and rated both the parent and the child on the same personality items. The 136 women in the study were especially sensitive to the possibility of a child being troubled. Compared with the 136 men, they were less inclined to explain failure as the child's fault and to describe a child as mean.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

"Nursing as a way of thinking"--Heideggerian hermeneutical analysis of the lived experience of the returning RN.

Although RNs are returning for baccalaureate education in large numbers, little research has been conducted on their lived experience to identify what they deem significant about their schooling experiences. For this phenomenological study, returning RNs from three baccalaureate nursing programs (N = 15) participated in extended, nonstructured, audiorecorded interviews. Resulting verbatim transcripts were analyzed hermeneutically by a team of researchers using Heideggerian phenomenology as the philosophical background to identify common meanings, relational themes across texts, and finally, constitutive patterns expressing relationships between themes. The major finding of the research was the constitutive pattern "Nursing as a Way of Thinking."

Curriculum↗

PubMed1996

The concept of inhibition in some nineteenth century theories of thinking.

The concept of inhibition was introduced into psychology and physiology at the beginning of the 19th century. Although it was quickly adapted to account for a wide range of phenomena in both disciplines, questions were soon raised about its real explanatory power. Some of the objections were on logical and scientific grounds but many were to the very notion that an inhibitory process could be an active one. Despite many analytical reviews and attempted redefinitions, no clarification resulted. Partly this was due to the influence of a variety of unstated philosophical and social-ideological assumptions about the phenomena for which inhibition was used. In this paper, some of these issues are explored in relation to "insanity," hypnosis, and normal thinking and willing. Particular attention is paid to Alexander Bain's theory of the will which David Ferrier attempted to locate in his hypothesised frontal inhibitory-motor centers.

Brain↗

PubMed1993

Brain mapping in thinking and language function.

Regional cerebral blood flow, rCBF, is coupled to regional cerebral metabolism and changes in rCBF reflects changes in neuronal activity. rCBF studies have provided information about the functions of a great number of cortical regions in the normal human brain. Outside the motor areas and sensory association areas there are areas committed to the transformation of information retrieved or generated within the brain itself. Language is processed within these regions. In contrast to the general clinical impression the functional mapping methods reveal that there is a large number of cortical regions activated bilaterally during language processing. Pure intrinsic brain work causes a profound activation of the cerebral cortex. Different types of thinking are seen to activate different sectors of the cortical space.

Brain↗

PubMed1985

The assessment of analogical thinking modifiability among regular, special education, disadvantaged, and mentally retarded children.

The objectives of the current study were (a) to develop a measure of children's analogical thinking modifiability (CATM) based on the Feuerstein, Rand, and Hoffman (1979) theory of dynamic assessment of cognitive modifiability, (b) to compare the performance of groups assumed to be differentially modified by intervention, (c) to compare CATM performance with performance on a conventional test, and (d) to study qualitative changes after a learning process. Subjects were disadvantaged, regular, and special education kindergarten children (N = 140), and mentally retarded children (N = 20). The CATM was administered together with the Ravens Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM) in a balanced order. Disadvantaged and regular children achieved higher gain scores than other groups in both none-or-all and partial credit methods (p less than .01). The MR and the special education groups showed small gains according to the none-or-all credit method; however, according to the partial credit method, the MR group showed high gains and the special education group a performance decrease. Performance scores on the CATM were higher than on the RCPM, especially in comparison to the B8-B12 items--differences reach a peak of 61% and 67% for the disadvantaged and regular groups, respectively. Qualitative analysis indicated that form mistakes were most resistant to change, whereas color mistakes were most easy to modify. Results were explained within Feuerstein's theoretical framework of cognitive modifiability. Impaired cognitive functions as well as analytic versus synthetic processes were suggested to explain group differences.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mental models and probabilistic thinking.

This paper outlines the theory of reasoning based on mental models, and then shows how this theory might be extended to deal with probabilistic thinking. The same explanatory framework accommodates deduction and induction: there are both deductive and inductive inferences that yield probabilistic conclusions. The framework yields a theoretical conception of strength of inference, that is, a theory of what the strength of an inference is objectively: it equals the proportion of possible states of affairs consistent with the premises in which the conclusion is true, that is, the probability that the conclusion is true given that the premises are true. Since there are infinitely many possible states of affairs consistent with any set of premises, the paper then characterizes how individuals estimate the strength of an argument. They construct mental models, which each correspond to an infinite set of possibilities (or, in some cases, a finite set of infinite sets of possibilities). The construction of models is guided by knowledge and beliefs, including lay conceptions of such matters as the "law of large numbers". The paper illustrates how this theory can account for phenomena of probabilistic reasoning.

Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The relationship between social alienation and disorganized thinking in normal subjects and localized cerebral glucose metabolic rates assessed by positron emission tomography.

This study investigated the relationships between the relatively mild manifestations in verbal behavior of social alienation and disorganized thinking in normal subjects and cerebral glucose metabolic rates measured by positron emission tomography (PET). Three groups of 10 young normal male subjects were injected with D-[18F]deoxyglucose (FDG) during either wakefulness, rapid eye movement (REM), or non-REM (NONREM) sleep, and 32 to 45 minutes later they were asked to report their thoughts, emotions, or dreams and free-associations to these mental events. Nonparametric correlations were obtained between measures of interpersonal social alienation, intrapsychic conflicts, and thought disorder derived from the typescripts of these reports by content analysis--using the Gottschalk-Gleser Social Alienation-Personal Disorganization Scale--and regional cerebral glucose metabolic rates obtained from PET scans. Total social alienation-personal disorganization scores obtained from the reports of wakeful, silent mentations showed significant positive correlations with glucose metabolic rates in the left temporal lobe. The patterns of significant correlations involving these verbal behavior measures derived from the content analysis of verbal reports of dreams or other mental events occurring during REM and non-REM sleep were in different cerebral locations from those found with these variables during silent, waking mentation. Previous observations suggesting that increased left temporal lobe glucose may typify chronic schizophrenia may instead be indicative of a wide range of thought disorder and/or social alienation manifestations occurring, at times transiently and minimally, in normal people.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Why your "head is in the clouds" during thinking: the relationship between cognition and upper space.

Higher-order cognition in humans has not generally been viewed as closely entwined with the brain mechanisms mediating more basic perceptual-motor interactions in 3-D space. However, recent findings suggest that perceptual and oculomotor mechanisms that are biased toward the upper field (which disproportionately represents radially distant space) are activated during complex mental operations, ranging from semantic processing to mental arithmetic and memory search. The particularly close affinity with upward conjugate eye deviations--further confirmed in a study of 24 schoolchildren who responded to various mental questions and demands--suggests that active, abstract thinking in humans may have expropriated the focal-extrapersonal brain systems involved in saccadic exploration of the distant environment in other primates.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Scholarship, teaching and calculative thinking: a critique of the audit culture in UK nurse education.

We are only beginning to understand the significance and consequences of how the era of Quality Assurance Mechanisms is effecting nurse education. This paper argues that the later philosophy of Heidegger can teach us a lot regarding the underlying "calculative thinking" which informs the administrative mind-set which nurse education has taken on hook, line, and sinker.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2004

Disengagement from pain: the role of catastrophic thinking about pain.

This paper reports an experimental investigation of attentional engagement to and disengagement from pain. Thirty-seven pain-free volunteers performed a cueing task in which they were instructed to respond to visual target stimuli, i.e. the words 'pain' and 'tone'. Targets were preceded by pain stimuli or tone stimuli as cues. Participants were characterized as high or low pain catastrophizers, using self-reports. We found that the effect of cueing upon target detection was differential for high and low pain catastrophizers. Analyses revealed a similar amount of attentional engagement to pain in both groups. However, we also found that participants high in pain catastrophizing had difficulty disengaging from pain, whereas participants low in pain catastrophizing showed no retarded disengagement from pain. Our results provide further evidence that catastrophic thinking enhances the attentional demand of pain, particularly resulting in difficulty disengaging from pain. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Critical thinking and evidence-based practice.

Critical thinking (CT) is vital to evidence-based nursing practice. Evidence-based practice (EBP) supports nursing care and can contribute positively to patient outcomes across a variety of settings and geographic locations. The nature of EBP, its relevance to nursing, and the skills needed to support it should be required components of baccalaureate education and must be introduced early in students' development as independent, self-directed learners and as professional nurses. Among the knowledge, skills, and processes needed to support EBP, CT is paramount. The development of CT can prepare nurses with the necessary skills and dispositions (habits of mind, attitudes, and traits) to support EBP. The intents of this study were to explore the importance of CT as an essential skill to support EBP and to describe some of the strategies and processes considered key to the ongoing development of CT.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2002

A hand-ergonomics training kit: development and evaluation of a package to support improved awareness and critical thinking.

A need for a hand-ergonomics training kit has been identified to increase critical thinking concerning choice of hand tools. This study deals with the design, use and evaluation of a hand-ergonomics training kit for use in ergonomics training programmes. The effects on awareness of hand ergonomics among training course participants have been evaluated by means of a questionnaire and interviews at a car production plant in Sweden. The evaluation was carried out about one and a half years after training with the hand-ergonomics training kit. The training kit consists of a guide to practical exercises, equipment for measuring hand size and strength, examples of hand tools for use in practical exercises, equipment for testing and evaluating the hand tools and checklists and judgement forms for qualitative evaluation. In addition, the kit contains relevant scientifically based reference reports on hand ergonomics. The evaluation showed that the practical exercises with the hand-ergonomic training kit had, to a remarkable extent, increased individuals' awareness of anthropometric differences and of the importance of ergonomically well-designed hand tools. After the practical exercises with the training kit, communication within the plant when choosing hand tools seems to be based on objective criteria to a higher degree, however, the results indicate that this communication could be further improved.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1999

The scope of teleological thinking in preschool children.

These studies explore the scope of young children's teleological tendency to view entities as 'designed for purposes'. One view ('Selective Teleology') argues that teleology is an innate, basic mode of thinking that, throughout development, is selectively applied by children and adults to artifacts and biological properties. An alternative proposal ('Promiscuous Teleology') argues that teleological reasoning derives from children's knowledge of intentionality and is not restricted to any particular category of phenomena until later in development. Two studies explored the predictions of these two hypotheses regarding the scope of children's functional intuitions. Using different methods, both studies found that, unlike adults, pre-schoolers tend to attribute functions to all kinds of objects--clocks, tigers, clouds and their parts. A third study then explored this finding further by examining whether the developmental effect was due to differences in children's and adults' concept of function. It found that both children and adults predominantly view an object's function as the activity it was designed to perform. Possible explanations for the developmental differences found in the first two studies, and implications for notions of a teleological stance are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Catastrophic thinking about pain increases discomfort during internal atrial cardioversion.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated whether pain catastrophizing is associated with distress and perceived disability in patients with atrial fibrillation, whether pain catastrophizing predicts pain and fear during a medical procedure of atrial cardioversion, and whether pain catastrophizing influences the effects of an opioid analgesic during internal cardioversion. METHODS: A secondary analysis is performed upon data from a double-blind placebo-controlled trial during which the effect of intranasal butorphanol tartrate (INB) was evaluated in patients with atrial fibrillation using a step-up internal atrial cardioversion protocol. Before the procedure, patients completed measures of pain catastrophizing, mood, distress and perceived disability. After each shock, patients completed measures of pain and fear. RESULTS: We found that pain catastrophizing predicted the affective pain rating of the first shock, and the fear increase during subsequent shocks. There was no effect of INB. However, when controlling for the differences in pain catastrophizing, INB significantly reduced fear as compared to placebo. This suggests that the effects of INB during atrial cardioversion were overshadowed by the effects of pain catastrophizing. CONCLUSIONS: It is recommended that in future atrial cardioversion trials, stratification based on pain catastrophizing be performed. Reducing catastrophizing thinking about pain through cognitive-behavioral techniques are likely to reduce levels of fear during internal atrial cardioversion and may increase the effectiveness of concomitant analgesics.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Critical thinking and clinical decision making in critical care nursing: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study examined the relationship of education level, years of critical care nursing experience, and critical thinking (CT) ability (skills and dispositions) to consistency in clinical decision making among critical care nurses. Consistency was defined as the degree to which intuitive and analytical decision processes resulted in similar selection of interventions in tasks of low and high complexity. DESIGN: The study was nonexperimental and correlational. SAMPLE: Critical care nurses (n = 54) from adult critical care units in 3 private teaching hospitals. The majority of nurses held a BSN or MSN and had an average of 9 years of direct clinical experience in the care of the critically ill. RESULTS: Decision-making consistency decreased significantly between low-complexity and high-complexity tasks. Both intuitive and analytical decision processes produced clear intervention selections in the low-complexity task, although the analytical process resulted in a more complete specification of interventions. In the high-complexity task, however, only the intuitive process resulted in a clear, plausible, and safe specification of interventions. Education and experience were not related to CT ability, nor was CT ability related to decision-making consistency. Only greater years of critical care nursing experience increased the likelihood of decision-making consistency. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, intuitive decision processes resulted in more clinically consistent selection of interventions across tasks. More investigation is needed to examine the influence of decision heuristics, and the conceptualization and measurement of CT abilities among practicing nurses.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

When somatic information threatens, catastrophic thinking enhances attentional interference.

Styles of catastrophic thinking about pain have been related to an inability to divert attention away from pain. We investigated whether pain catastrophizers displayed high attentional interference during a threatening low-intensity electrocutaneous stimulus (ES). In Experiment 1, 44 undergraduates performed a tone discrimination task whilst experiencing several times an ES on the left or right arms. Tones were also presented 250 ms and 750 ms after ES onset. Participants were threatened that a high-intensity painful stimulus would occur at one site. As predicted, pain catastrophizers displayed pronounced task interference immediately after threat stimulus onset. In Experiment 2, threat was induced in 36 undergraduates by informing them that an ES excites pain fibres. Again, catastrophizers had marked interference immediately after onset. The results are discussed in terms of how catastrophizing amplifies somatosensory information and primes fear mechanisms.

Adolescent↗