Episodic Experiences Research Articles

Shared responsibility: conceptualising how a public health approach may enhance police response to missing persons

When a person is reported missing there are substantial costs for the individual, their family and society. This paper conceptualises the experience of missing persons episodes, through a public health approach. This then allows police, stakeholders and the community to engage in discussions about who is vulnerable to going missing by intervening in a way that addresses risk. Historically, a missing persons episode involves an absence, typically followed by police involvement in consultation with next of kin with establishing the whereabouts of the missing person being the primary focus. Yet, the risk factors of going missing relate more to the psychosocial aspects that trigger a disappearance – family disconnection, mental health, poverty, intergenerational trauma. A narrative review of the literature reflects that the police are public health interventionists regarding social issues; however, this concept is untested in a missing persons context. Successful examples of public health approaches in the injury and violence prevention fields demonstrate that a public health approach is critical to address risk and protective factors. In a context of going missing (and the aftermath of a missing episode), enhanced awareness of the social and economic costs of an absence may prevent future episodes. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to address key challenges and risk factors in missing persons cases. The paper also proposes a future framework that emphasises shared responsibility between police working alongside public health and social care agencies to better support those at risk of going missing while fully engaging with the experiences of those who return.

Perceived Social Support on the Relationship Between ADD/ADHD and Both Anxious and Depressive Symptoms Among Canadian Adults

Objective: The primary goal of the present research was to examine whether the relationships that social support demonstrates with both anxiety and depression varied between adults with and without ADD/ADHD in a Canadian sample. Method: Data were obtained from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey–Mental Health (N ≥ 16,354). Presence of social support, diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and experience of major depressive episodes (MDEs) were estimated in the self-report ADD/ADHD and non-ADD/ADHD groups. Results: Although social support was negatively associated with having GAD or experiencing an MDE, and self-report ADD/ADHD was positively associated with these outcomes. Presence of self-report ADD/ADHD did not significantly modify the relationships between social support and GAD or MDE. Conclusion: Social support may be a protective factor against symptoms of anxiety and depression in the general Canadian population, for adults with and without ADHD.

Emotional memory in the lab: Using the Trier Social Stress Test to induce a sensory-rich and personally meaningful episodic experience

A myriad of clinical theories places emotional memory or mental representations at the root of mental disorders. Various cognitive-behavioural interventions are based on the assumption that targeting the underlying emotional memory is the working mechanism of treatment efficacy. To test the assumptions about the role of emotional memory in the development, maintenance, and treatment of mental disorders, we first need to establish ecologically valid paradigms that can induce emotional memory in the lab. For this, we used the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a standardized protocol to elicit social distress, paired with a neutral unfamiliar ambient odour, to create a sensory-rich and personally meaningful episodic experience. Seven days later, participants (N = 132) reactivated the memory of the TSST with the aid of auditory, olfactory, and visual retrieval cues, during which their heart rate and self-reported affective responses were collected. Although increases in heart rate were only observed during encoding, and not at retrieval, self-report ratings showed that cues which directly referred to the aversive experience evoked more negative valence, arousal, and feelings of lack of control during memory reactivation compared to control cues across sensory modalities. These findings are indicative of successful memory induction and corroborate the utility of ambient odours as retrieval aids. Moreover, the self-reported response to the reactivated emotional memory correlated with individual differences in indices of (social) anxiety and depression. Thereby, we provide preliminary evidence of the translational significance of this paradigm that offers potential for being a model to induce ecologically valid emotional memory in the lab.

(S)training experiences: Toward understanding decreases in entrepreneurial self-efficacy during action-oriented entrepreneurship training

While most participants benefit from action-oriented entrepreneurship training, such programs can paradoxically also have negative effects. Training programs in which participants actively engage in entrepreneurship involve facing problems that might be too difficult to overcome, potentially decreasing trainees' entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Based on theories of self-regulation, we argue that error mastery orientation is a factor that explains under which condition problems do or do not lead to decreases in entrepreneurial self-efficacy during training. To test our model, we conducted a 12-week action-oriented training program and applied a longitudinal design with one baseline measurement, seven measurements during training, and one measurement after training. Analyses based on 415 lagged observations from 109 training participants indicated that participants with low error mastery orientation experienced decreases in entrepreneurial self-efficacy during training when facing problems. In contrast, participants high in error mastery orientation could buffer the negative effects of problems on entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Our results suggest that error mastery orientation is a critical factor to understand why participants' episodic experiences of problems during training negatively influence their entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Shedding light on these self-regulatory factors advances the understanding of the potential dark side of action-oriented entrepreneurship training.

Episodic Experiences of Child Physical Abuse, Early Relational Trauma and Post-Traumatic Play: Theoretical Considerations and Clinical Illustrations.

Through symbolic and make-believe play, children can give meaning to their emotional experiences. For children who have experienced trauma, play provides the means to transform their past and tame the intrusive images and feelings associated with it. The quality of parent-child interactions plays a vital role in the development of mental representational capacity, which is essential for children's ability to engage in symbolic play. However, in child maltreatment situations, the unpredictability and insecurity of the parent-child relationship can have a profound impact on children's ability to play. This article aims to explore how the post-traumatic play of children who have suffered from episodic experiences of physical abuse differs from that of children who have experienced early relational traumas (ERT) resulting from chronic exposure to maltreatment and neglect. A theoretical and clinical analysis of the first play therapy session of a child who lived episodic experiences of physical abuse and that of a child who was exposed to ERT is presented. This analysis is informed by the Children's Play Therapy Instrument and the theories proposed by Chazan and Cohen inJournal of Child Psychotherapy, 36(2), 133-151(2010), and Romano inLe Journal Des Psychologues, 279, 57-61 (2010). The nature of the relationship between children and their primary caregivers and the child-therapist relationship are also discussed. ERT appear to compromise the development of diverse abilities in children. Among them, access to the world of mental representations, which depends to a large extent on the presence of mindful and attentive parents, and their ability to capture and respond contingently to the playful proposals of children.

Finding the Person in the Disorder: Adapting Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy for Bipolar Mood Disorder (MERIT-BD)

Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT) was originally developed as an integrative recovery-oriented therapeutic approach to address the needs of people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and other forms of severe mental illness. The approach, conceptualized as transtheoretical, aims to promote a more coherent and synthetic sense of self, through stimulating insight, sense of coherence, and metacognitive capacity. We argue that MERIT therapy, designed to facilitate peoples’ ability to form complex ideas about themselves and others and to use this knowledge to respond to psychological problems, has application in addressing deficits associated with bipolar disorder (BD), where there may be a significant injury to the person’s sense of self. That is, the therapy addresses the nascent sense of self in a context where disturbance of mood is dominant, and in relation to the experience of episodic manic episodes which may be understood as dissociative events, often associated with shame. The application of the therapeutic approach, which we term MERIT-BD draws upon MERIT’s primary principle of facilitating complexity and integration of the self, and additionally addresses shame, allowing for the facilitation of metacognitive capacity and insight in the context of finding the person. This approach will be illustrated with case vignettes illustrating the application of key components of MERIT-BD. Early findings drawn from a series of case studies are encouraging.

The Effect of Improved Nursing Education on 30-day Readmissions in Sickle Cell Patients

Patients with sickle cell disease [1] have episodes of crisis that manifest as severe episodic experiences leading to multiple hospitalizations and recurrent readmissions for acute attacks and routine care [2]. In-hospital mortality is higher for patients who are readmitted versus those who are not. The estimated cost of care annually for the 100,000 patients with SCD in the United States exceeds $1.1 billion just from hospitalizations [3]. Readmissions affect the cost of healthcare in the US, and according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [4], readmission costs are higher than initial admissions. This project aimed to increase nurses’ knowledge in the care of sickle cell patients at a facility in Central New Jersey and decrease the readmission of patients with sickle cell, leading to better care outcomes.

Feeling the absence of justice: Notes on our pathological reliance on punitive justice

AbstractThis article critically examines our relationship with justice in contemporary Western liberal settings, with a particular focus on why our pursuit of justice is intimately entangled with punitive logics. It starts by arguing that we have a predominantly pathological approach to justice, in the sense that it follows a logic that is akin to that displayed in contemporary sensibilities regarding bodily pain. We deploy Drew Leder's concept of ‘dys‐appearance’ to discuss how, in Western liberal societies, justice is primarily experienced negatively as a phenomenon; that is, we mainly become conscious of justice through the painful and episodic experience of injustice. We then explore this phenomenological quality of justice which, we argue, is linked to how the pursuit of justice in these settings predominantly takes a hostile, punitive aspect. The article concludes by exploring how this punitive impulse can be resisted, through what we term a ‘lived sense of justice’.

“Landscape of Stress” for Sheep Owners in the Swedish Wolf Region

Farmers who keep livestock in large carnivore areas are exposed to threat of predation directly impacting on finances and workload as well as the associated psychological stress indirectly impacting on farmers well-being. So far, little is known about such stress responses. The concept of “stress” or “stress reaction” is often used as an undifferentiated umbrella concept for the experience of negative emotional episodes. However, the stress reactions could be divided into cognitive, physiological, and behavioural aspects. This study aimed to develop and apply a theory-based approach to identify stress responses among sheep farmers in the Swedish “wolf-region.” A thematic analysis of interviews conducted with sheep farmers showed ample support for stress responses among the informants in relation to large carnivores and their management, although the interviews were conducted with a different focal topic. The findings support the idea that stress responses could be categorised into cognitive, physiological, and behavioural aspects. This distinction would help to identify and fully understand the cumulative impact of stress from the presence of large carnivores on farmers’ well-being.

Kullanıcı Deneyimi Değerlendirme Araştırmalarında Elektroensefalografi Kullanımının İncelenmesi

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in User Experience (UX) evaluation in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field to evaluate information systems. Meanwhile, the application of neuroscientific measurement tools in user experience studies is constantly increasing. Within the scope of this study, a systematic mapping is conducted on the use of electroencephalography (EEG), one of the neuroscientific measurement tools, in UX evaluation studies published between 2010-2020. 89 studies are gathered from Web of Science (WoS) database, Science Direct (Elsevier), IEEE Xplore Library, ACM Digital Library, according to the scope of the study, are examined. The aim of this study is to reveal the trends and the use of EEG with the other UX evaluation methods in UX evaluation research. According to the results of the study, the types of data collected by EEG for UX evaluation are emotion and attention, data is generally collected as single episodic experience. In addition, the support vector machine is used for the classification and event-related potential is used for the feature extraction of the EEG data.

Profiles of attribution for work–family conflict episodes and their relation to negative emotions

SummaryMany employees commonly deal with situations where their work and family lives are in conflict. Yet, scholarly understanding of how these episodic experiences influence employees' cognitions (i.e., attributions) and emotions is still limited. Further, the emergent line of work–family research on attributions tends to adopt a variable‐centric approach by investigating the effects of attributional dimensions in isolation, thus precluding a holistic view of how individuals form profiles of attributions in response to work–family conflict episodes. To advance the work–family literature, we employed an experience sampling design across 12 days to investigate profiles of attributions and the resultant discrete negative emotions (e.g., guilt, shame, regret, anger, frustration, and resentment) associated with work–family conflict in full‐time employees with children. Multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA) results revealed meaningfully different profiles of attributions that tended to occur in reaction to conflicts between work and family, with these profiles differing based upon direction of the conflict episode (i.e., work‐interfering‐with‐family [WIF] vs. family‐interfering‐with‐work [FIW]). Further, these attributional profiles, especially those associated with FIW episodes, differentially related to distinct negative emotions. Overall, our findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of profiles of attributions following work–family conflict episodes, with critical implications for affective well‐being.

Unmet support needs relating to hypoglycaemia among adults with type 1 diabetes: Results of a multi-country web-based qualitative study.

ObjectiveHypoglycaemic episodes and fear of hypoglycaemia can be burdensome for adults with type 1 diabetes. This study explored support needs relating to hypoglycaemia among adults with type 1 diabetes living in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.Research design and methodsRespondents participated in a web‐based qualitative study involving four open‐ended questions that asked what they wished other people understood about hypoglycaemia and what other people could do differently to support them with hypoglycaemia. Responses were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsParticipants were 219 adults with type 1 diabetes (mean ± SD age 39 ± 13 years; mean ± SD diabetes duration 20 ± 14 years). They described unmet needs relating to: (1) Clinical support, involving access to new diabetes technologies, training on hypoglycaemia prevention, personalised care and psychological support; (2) Practical support, involving family and friends better supporting them with hypoglycaemia management and prevention; (3) Education for other people, involving others becoming more informed about hypoglycaemia; and (4) An appreciation of the burden, involving others recognizing the experience and impact of episodes, and the burden of living with the risk of hypoglycaemia.ConclusionsAdults with type 1 diabetes report several unmet support needs relating to hypoglycaemia. Service delivery should be person‐centred and prioritise the individual's support needs. Clinical conversations are needed to identify the individual's support needs and develop tailored support plans. People with diabetes and their family members should be offered hypoglycaemia‐specific education and training.

An intervention study for the prevention of vasovagal reactions and evaluating donors' experience: Analysis of donors' return for subsequent donation.

The EPISoDe (Experience Success in Donation) study investigated the effect of interventions on self-reported vasovagal reactions (VVRs) in first-time and novice (second to fourth donation) whole blood donors aged ≤30 years, demonstrating a 23% reduction of VVR from water drinking shortly before donation in the novice donors. Because donation experience and complications affect donor retention, we analysed intervention group donors' return for subsequent donation, a predefined secondary outcome. The interventions were as follows: 330 ml water, 500 ml water, ball squeezing before phlebotomy (placebo) and a control group. All donors received an online questionnaire about their experience within a week after donation. In the Netherlands, eligible donors are invited at least yearly depending on hospitals' needs. We analysed attendances within 421 days through return percentages and binomial logistic regression. Of the 8300 EPISoDe participants, 6538 (78.8%) returned within 421 days. Return did not differ between the two water groups, whereas odds for return were significantly higher in both water and placebo intervention donors compared to the control group (odds ratio [OR] 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00-1.29 and 1.22, 1.05-1.43, respectively) after adjustment for occurrence of VVR, unsuccessful collection, gender and donation history. Staff-recorded or self-reported VVR at index donation was associated with reduced odds for return (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.37-0.60 and OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.46-0.61, respectively). In this cohort of younger inexperienced blood donors, 78.8% returned for subsequent donation. Donors who received an active study intervention, either water or placebo, were more likely to return than control group donors.

Stress, a reflective self and an internal locus of control: On the everyday clinical placement experiences of older undergraduate radiographers in the UK

IntroductionExtant evidence indicates that the stresses experienced by younger undergraduate radiographers and their older counterparts vary considerably. Much of this difference has, however, emerged from analyses of the academic component of a radiography degree whereas little work has focused to date upon the specific business of clinical placement. Given this, the research herein reports findings from a qualitative study of how older undergraduate radiography students in the UK assemble their stress and stressors around clinical placement. MethodsAn Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was employed. N = 6 older undergraduate students undergoing their final year placement were purposively recruited from a variety of hospitals. With full institutional ethical approval, a semi-structured interview was conducted with each participant. ResultsFour superordinate themes emerged. These were: (1) Self-identity and perceived competence; (2) Understaffing, instability and affect; (3) Episodic experience and feeling ‘thrown-in’; (4) Unpreparedness for the challenging patient. Critically, each theme describes an interaction between stressor, experience of stress and self. ConclusionWhile familiar stressors were apparent, the older participating students actively made sense of them in terms of their manageability. This provides a strong contrast with existing literature, which tends to imply a more externalised locus of control among (largely younger) students. Implications for practiceStress in the NHS is a continuing issue and there is a clear rationale for further investigation to ascertain the level of clinical support available and to determine whether further improvements could assist students on clinical placement. Collaboration between academic institutions and clinical sites would allow open discussion around clinical stress experienced by radiography students, with locus of control a potential point of focus, fostering a proactive partnership approach to stress-management and identification of difficulties before they exacerbate.

Picturing yourself: a social-cognitive process model to integrate third-person imagery effects

ABSTRACT People have a fascinating capacity to picture their actions from an external vantage point. Much of the research on this third-person imagery has focused on the specific effects it has on cognition due to the elements of episodic experience that it lacks relative to first-person imagery. Other research focuses on the information that the third-person provides that first-person imagery lacks. We propose a more systematic approach that conceptualises how third-person imagery’s various effects interrelate due to a common underlying social-cognitive function. Specifically, we outline an integrative model proposing that third-person and first-person imagery cause people to adopt qualitatively distinct processing styles. This model explains many of the diverse effects that have been documented in the literature and helps reconcile seemingly discrepant findings. We conclude with recommendations for strategies to more systematically investigate the functions of visual perspective in mental imagery to build more comprehensive understanding of this phenomenological variable.

Retrograde enhancement of episodic learning by a postlearning stimulus

Evidence suggests encoding of recent episodic experiences may be enhanced by a subsequent salient event. We tested this hypothesis by giving rats a 3-min unsupervised experience with four odors and measuring retention after different delays. Animals recognized that a novel element had been introduced to the odor set at 24 but not 48 h. However, when odor sampling was followed within 5 min by salient light flashes or bedding odor, the memory lasted a full 2 d. These results describe a retroactive influence of salience to promote storage of episodic information and introduce a unique model for studying underlying plasticity mechanisms.

Theta-modulated oscillatory transcranial direct current stimulation over posterior parietal cortex improves associative memory

Associative memory (AM) reflects the ability to remember and retrieve multiple pieces of information bound together thus enabling complex episodic experiences. Despite growing interest in the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for the modulation of AM, there are inconsistent evidence regarding its benefits. An alternative to standard constant tDCS could be the application of frequency-modulated tDCS protocols, that mimic natural function-relevant brain rhythms. Here, we show the effects of anodal tDCS oscillating in theta rhythm (5 Hz; 1.5 ± 0.1 mA) versus constant anodal tDCS and sham over left posterior parietal cortex on cued recall of face-word associations. In a crossover design, each participant completed AM assessment immediately following 20-min theta-oscillatory, constant, and sham tDCS, as well as 1 and 5 days after. Theta oscillatory tDCS increased initial AM performance in comparison to sham, and so did constant tDCS. On the group level, no differences between oscillatory and constant tDCS were observed, but individual-level analysis revealed that some participants responded to theta-oscillatory but not to constant tDCS, and vice versa, which could be attributed to their different physiological modes of action. This study shows the potential of oscillatory tDCS protocols for memory enhancement to produce strong and reliable memory-modulating effects which deserve to be investigated further.

Meta-Learning in Neural Networks: A Survey.

The field of meta-learning, or learning-to-learn, has seen a dramatic rise in interest in recent years. Contrary to conventional approaches to AI where tasks are solved from scratch using a fixed learning algorithm, meta-learning aims to improve the learning algorithm itself, given the experience of multiple learning episodes. This paradigm provides an opportunity to tackle many conventional challenges of deep learning, including data and computation bottlenecks, as well as generalization. This survey describes the contemporary meta-learning landscape. We first discuss definitions of meta-learning and position it with respect to related fields, such as transfer learning and hyperparameter optimization. We then propose a new taxonomy that provides a more comprehensive breakdown of the space of meta-learning methods today. We survey promising applications and successes of meta-learning such as few-shot learning and reinforcement learning. Finally, we discuss outstanding challenges and promising areas for future research.

Corruption Bias and Information: A Study in the Lab

Our study examines whether actual corruption, measured by individuals direct experience of corruption episodes (bribery), matches their perceptions of the phenomenon. Our experimental participants play a repeated public good game with mandatory minimum contribution and are given the possibility to bribe a computerized bureaucrat in order to free-ride. We elicit beliefs about the perceived level of corruptibility of the bureaucrat and others' corruption attempts. We study participants' willingness to corrupt and the gap between perceived and actual corruption under two information conditions. Results show that, although anonymous, spreading news about an attempt of corruption is enough to discourage such attempts, lowering the corruption rate. Consequently, when receiving no information, participants expect others to corrupt more, raising the index of perceived corruption.

Assessment of diabetes-related distress among type 2 diabetic patients, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Objectives:To assess the prevalence of diabetes-related distress (DRD) among Type 2 diabetics in the diabetic center of King Salman Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Methods:This was an observational descriptive study conducted between December 2019 and January 2020 among T2DM patients followed up at the diabetic clinics of the Diabetic Center of King Salman Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We used the 17-items Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS17) to measure DRD.Results:A total of 399 T2DM patients were included in the study, 58.4% were males. High distress was seen in 40 patients. Multivariate analysis showed that longer duration of diabetes (>15 years), female gender, longer intervals in-between visits (>6 months), and experience of episodes of severe hypoglycemia as the most significant factors related to higher levels of distress. The patients who were diabetics longer than 15 years had an increased risk for high distress by 3.6 times, infrequent clinic visits (longer than 6 months) increased the risk for high distress by 5.3 times×, and patients who experienced severe hypoglycemia had an increased risk for high distress by 5.8 times.Conclusion:This study showed a high (35.6%) prevalence of moderate to severe DRD. Long-standing diabetes, a longer interval of a clinic visit, and severe hypoglycemia increase the risk for DRD by 3.6, 5.3, and 5.8 folds. Health care providers should focus on reducing DRD and devise ways to increase self-care practices and coping skills.