What Reaching Teaches: Consciousness, Control, and the Inner Zombie

What is the role of conscious visual experience in the controland guidance of human behaviour? According to some recent treatments,the role is surprisingly indirect. Conscious visual experience,on these accounts, serves the formation of plans and the selectionof action types and targets, while the control of ‘online’visually guided action proceeds via a quasi-independent non-consciousroute. In response to such claims, critics such as (Wallhagen[2007], pp. 539–61) have suggested that the notions ofcontrol and guidance invoked are unacceptably vague, and thatthat the image of ‘zombie systems’ guiding actionfails to take account of the possibility that there is genuinebut unconceptualized, unnoticed, and/or unreportable experiencetaking place and guiding or controlling the actions. I addressboth sets of concerns. I try to show that refining and clarifyingthe key notions of control and guidance leaves the originalargument intact, as does the appeal to unconceptualized, unnoticed,or unreportable experiences. The exercise serves, however, tohighlight an important complex of considerations concerningthe relations between control, agency, and experience. Betterunderstanding these relations is, I suggest, an important sourceof insights concerning the nature of phenomenal experience.     

中外合作办学宿舍文化潜在课程及学生感受的实证分析——以广东某高校为个案

以广东省某中外合作办学高校为研究个案,对宿生发放了526份问卷,并对该校相关管理部门的负责人以及个别宿生进行了访谈,力求了解中外合作高校校方设计/引导的宿舍文化蕴含的潜在课程（含宿舍的物质文化、制度文化和精神文化三个层面）及学生对其的感受。研究结果表明：学生对中外合作办学宿舍文化潜在课程的整体评价大多数是正面而积极的,只有13.5%的学生表示不喜欢小镇的生活。大多数学生认同小镇生活,认为其让他们获得了独立的生活能力并学会了人际交往技巧,学生对于三个层面潜在课程功效的认同度由高到低分别为物质、制度、精神。     

Resources, capabilities, risk capital and the creation of university spin-out companies

The commercialization of university research has become an increasingly important issue, given concerns regarding licensing and the university's desire to maximize the returns to intellectual property (IP). In this paper, we assess the impact of university resources and routines/capabilities on the creation of spin-out companies. We find that both the number of spin-out companies created and the number of spin-out companies created with equity investment are significantly positively associated with expenditure on intellectual property protection, the business development capabilities of technology transfer offices and the royalty regime of the university. These results highlight the importance not just of resource stocks, but also of developing appropriate capabilities of technology transfer officers in spinning-out companies. The results suggest that universities and policy-makers need to devote attention to the training and recruitment of technology officers with the broad base of commercial skills.     

NAVIGATING SOCIAL NETWORKING AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY: ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL CONSIDERATIONS IN TRAINING PROGRAMS

Social networking and social media have undoubtedly proliferated within the past decade, allowing widespread communication and dissemination of user‐generated content and information. Some psychology graduate programs, including school psychology, have started to embrace social networking and media for instructional and training purposes; however, there have not been any consistent ethical guidelines or standards among training programs relating to how trainers, graduate students, and practitioners should use social networking and social media professionally. This article draws on the current yet limited research on social networking and social media, and addresses the ethical challenges when managing both professional and personal online identities in school psychology. Two relevant case scenarios are discussed, along with suggested guidelines for developing technological policies for school psychologists. Future directions in research and practical implications for trainers, graduate students, and practitioners are explored.     

Sports participation and health during periods of educational transition: a study of 30–35-year-olds in north-west England

In view of the persistence of health inequalities and declines in leisure-sport participation over the life course, several quantitative investigations have explored the links between participation and other leisure activities, which have their foundations in childhood and youth, as a means of understanding adults’ health behaviours. This paper presents new qualitative evidence to examine the largely under-explored relationship between leisure-sport participation and health within the context of educational transitions among a sample of 30–35-year-olds in north-west England. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted with 19 participants between July and August 2009, the paper illuminates the differential impact that gender and social class had on sports participation, and other health-related behaviours (e.g. drinking and smoking), among different groups of adults during the inherently transitional life-stage of youth. The findings suggest that while significant, the length of time spent in education and the differential educational experiences recalled by adults cannot adequately explain the observed differences in health and leisure-sport participation. The major sources of difference, while associated with educational transitions, appeared to lie instead in the broader inequalities that characterized adults’ lives and it is argued that simply enhancing leisure-sport participation and individual lifestyle change, as a means of health promotion, is a futile endeavour that does little to tackle the socio-economic structural determinants of health. We conclude by suggesting that until this is recognized by government and those both inside and outside of the health and sport policy communities, stubborn differences in leisure-sport participation rates and health inequalities—that have their foundations in childhood and youth, but extend over the life course—are likely to remain intact, and the unequal lives people currently lead are likely to become even more unequal in the future.     

Genetic research and testing in sport and exercise science: A review of the issues

Abstract

This review is based on the BASES position stand on “Genetic Research and Testing in Sport and Exercise Science”. Our aims are first to introduce the reader to research in sport and exercise genetics and then to highlight ethical problems arising from such research and its applications. Sport and exercise genetics research in the form of transgenic animal and human association studies has contributed significantly to our understanding of exercise physiology and there is potential for major new discoveries. Researchers starting out in this field will have to ensure an appropriate study design to avoid, for example, statistically underpowered studies. Ethical concerns arise more from the applications of genetic research than from the research itself, which is assessed by ethical committees. Possible applications of genetic research are genetic performance tests or genetic tests to screen, for example, for increased risk of sudden death during sport. The concerns are that genetic performance testing could be performed on embryos and could be used to select embryos for transplantation or abortion. Screening for risk of sudden death may reduce deaths during sporting events but those that receive a positive diagnosis may suffer severe psychological consequences. Equally, it will be almost impossible to keep a positive diagnosis confidential if the individual tested is an elite athlete.     

Developing collaborative approaches to enhance the professional development of primary mathematics teachers

This research project promoted a collaborative model of professional development between lead teachers from three schools, supported by a project coordinator and a researcher from a local university. Each lead teacher worked with their head teacher to design, lead, and evaluate an innovative, personalised, and school-based mathematics continuing professional development (CPD) programme in their school. University staff helped to facilitate project meetings across the schools and monitored impacts within each school. Professional development meetings, involving all teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) from the schools (n?=?55), were designed to encourage a whole-school approach. The project also provided structured opportunities for the lead teacher to work with colleagues in the classroom, for example, through lesson observation and/or collaborative teaching. The outcomes from this project confirmed that collaborative models of CPD, as opposed to transmission, formal training, and ‘top-down’ models, were welcomed by teachers and head teachers – some of whom reported early indications of improvements in student performance. Commenting on what constitutes the most effective forms of CPD, there was a reiteration of the importance of combining peer and external support through a collaborative process.