Positive Illusions: The Role of Cognitive Distortions Related to Gambling and Temporal Perspective in Chasing Behavior

Chasing, or continuing to gamble to recoup previous losses, is a behavioral marker and a diagnostic criterion for gambling disorder. Even though chasing has been recognized to play a central role in gambling disorder, research on chasing is still relatively scarce. This study first empirically investigated the interplay between cognitive distortions related to gambling, temporal perspective, and chasing behavior in a sample of habitual gamblers. Two hundred and fifty-five adults took part in the study. Participants completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS), the 14-item Consideration of Future Consequences scale (CFC-14), and performed a computerized task assessing chasing behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions (Control, Loss, and Win). Hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that the decision to chase depended on scores on the CFC-14 Immediate scale and the GRCS dimensions Gambling Expectancies and Interpretative Bias. Hierarchical linear regression analysis indicated that, chasing frequency was affected by Loss condition, distortions related to gambling expectancies and predictive control, as well as by myopia for the future. Interestingly, the results of path analysis clearly indicated that some cognitions related to gambling predict chasing frequency not only directly, but also indirectly via shortened time horizon. Notably, gambling severity did not predict either the decision to chase, or the chasing persistence. These findings provide further evidence that nonchasers and chasers seem to belong to two quite distinct subtypes of gamblers. Such a difference could be useful for targeting more effective intervention strategies in gambling disorder treatment.

Consumers experiencing vulnerability: a state of play in the literature

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art review of research on consumers experiencing vulnerability to describe the current situation of the consumers experiencing vulnerability literature and develop an up-to-date synthesised definition of consumers experiencing vulnerability. Design/methodology/approach This systematic review, guided by the PRISMA framework, takes a multi-disciplinary approach to identify 310 articles published between 2010 and 2019 examining consumers experiencing vulnerability. Descriptive analysis of the data is undertaken in combination with a thematic and text mining approach using Leximancer software. Findings A definition of consumers experiencing vulnerability is developed- “unique and subjective experiences where characteristics such as states, conditions and/or external factors lead to a consumer experiencing a sense of powerlessness in consumption settings”. The findings reveal consumers experiencing vulnerability have often been classified using a uni-dimensional approach (opposed to a multi-dimensional), focussing on one factor of vulnerability, the most prevalent of these being economic and age factors. A lack of research has examined consumers experiencing vulnerability based upon geographical remoteness, gender and sexual exploitation. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to examine consumers experiencing vulnerability using a systematic approach and text mining analysis to synthesise a large set of articles, which subsequently reduces the potential for researchers’ interpretative bias. Further, it is the first to generate a data-driven definition of consumers experiencing vulnerability. It provides targeted recommendations to allow further scholarly, policy and practical contributions to this area.

Picturing the Meaning of Scandinavian Rock Art – Graphic Representations, Archaeological Interpretations and Material Alterations

The paper presents a reflective overview of the recursive relation between the archaeological practice of picturing Scandinavian rock art in printed works since the mid-19th century, and how archaeologists have constructed its meaning. There seem to be an intimate connection between graphic representations of rock art and an interpretative bias towards the mimetic qualities of images. When picturing rock art, the identification of motifs is prioritized at the expense of the materiality of rock art. Ultimately, the production of graphic representations has influenced the antiquarian alteration of the archaeological remains. Today, major Scandinavian rock art sites are frequently painted red, with the purpose of highlighting the engraved imagery for visitor legibility. This practice transforms the materiality of stone into a visual language of graphic representations.

The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes Ratio: A Relevant Marker of Gut Dysbiosis in Obese Patients?

The gut microbiota is emerging as a promising target for the management or prevention of inflammatory and metabolic disorders in humans. Many of the current research efforts are focused on the identification of specific microbial signatures, more particularly for those associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Some studies have described that the gut microbiota of obese animals and humans exhibits a higher Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio compared with normal-weight individuals, proposing this ratio as an eventual biomarker. Accordingly, the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio is frequently cited in the scientific literature as a hallmark of obesity. The aim of the present review was to discuss the validity of this potential marker, based on the great amount of contradictory results reported in the literature. Such discrepancies might be explained by the existence of interpretative bias generated by methodological differences in sample processing and DNA sequence analysis, or by the generally poor characterization of the recruited subjects and, more particularly, the lack of consideration of lifestyle-associated factors known to affect microbiota composition and/or diversity. For these reasons, it is currently difficult to associate the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio with a determined health status and more specifically to consider it as a hallmark of obesity.

The Synod on Young People, Missionary Discipleship, and the Decolonial Option

Pope Francis has emphasized the importance of embracing the universal call to be “missionary disciples.” In calling for the 2018 Synod of Bishops on the theme of young people, he highlighted the need for church leaders to renew their understanding of and approach to young people as they discern how to embrace their call to be missionary disciples. The final document of the synod reveals that many church leaders still do not understand the pope’s vision or the reality of young adults. To overcome this interpretative bias, church leaders must reconstitute their worldview and embrace the decolonial option.

Conteúdos de língua Portuguesa em videoaulas para o ENEM

RESUMO: Discussões em torno da utilização de ferramentas tecnológicas no âmbito educacional têm suscitado o interesse de pesquisadores. Tal interesse se dá por meio da emergência de práticas de ensino com novos modelos e características que ampliem a compreensão de aula, espaço e tempo. Ao considerar esse contexto, constituem-se como perguntas desta pesquisa: que estratégia de abordagem do conteúdo de Língua Portuguesa prevalece em videoaulas do projeto “ENEM na palma da mão”? E qual a relação entre a estratégia de ensino nos eixos de leitura e de escrita e a concepção de ensino em função da recorrência dos conteúdos?No intuito de respondê-las, estabelecemos como objetivo geral analisar o funcionamento didático-pedagógico das videoaulas do referido projeto, e, de forma específica, identificar a estratégia de abordagem presente nas videoaulas, relacionando-a à concepção de ensino de LP. Nossa pesquisa tem características de natureza qualiquantitativa, sob um viés descritivo-interpretativista, e envolve a análise de quatro videoaulas que abordam os conteúdos “Leitura de textos multimodais (Tirinha e Charge)”, “Leitura de textos multimodais (Propaganda e Campanha Publicitária)”, “Estrutura e características do gênero dissertativo-argumentativo” e “Coerência, Coesão e Operadores Argumentativos”. Baseamo-nos teoricamente em Pfromm Netto (2011); Rodrigues; Schmidt e Marinho (2011), entre outros, para discutir a utilização da videoaula enquanto ferramenta da EaD, e em Zabala (1998), Mendes (2005), entre outros que permitem tratar das concepções de ensino, conteúdos de ensino e a didatização. Os resultados sinalizam a recorrência de mesma estratégia de abordagem de ensino em diferentes eixos e conteúdos de Língua Portuguesa. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: videoaula; concepções de ensino; conteúdos de língua portuguesa; didatização. ABSTRACT: Discussions around the use of technological tools in the educational field have aroused the interest of researchers. Such interest comes through the emergence of teaching practices with new models and characteristics that expand the understanding of class, space and time. By considering this context, questions are constituted for this research: what strategy to approach the content of Portuguese prevails in videotapes of the project “ENEM in the palm of the hand”? And what is the relation between the teaching strategy in the reading and writing axes and the conception of teaching in function of the recurrence of the contents? In order to answer them, we established as a general objective to analyze the didactic-pedagogical functioning of the videotapes of the said project, and, in a specific way, to identify the strategy of approach present in videotapes and to relate it to the conception of LP teaching. Our research has characteristics of a qualitative nature, under a descriptive-interpretative bias and involves the analysis of four videotapes that deal with the contents “Reading of multimodal texts (Comic strip and charge)”, “Reading of multimodal texts (Advertising and Publicity Campaign)”, “Structure and characteristics of the essay-argumentative genre” and “Coherence, Cohesion and Argumentative Operators”. We base ourselves theoretically on Pfromm Netto (2011); Rodrigues; Schmidt; Marinho (2011); among others, to discuss the use of videotapes as a tool for EDA and in Zabala (1998), Mendes (2005), among others that allow us to deal with conceptions of teaching, teaching contents and didatization. The results indicate the recurrence of the same strategy of teaching approach in different axes and contents of Portuguese Language.. KEYWORDS: videotapes; conceptions of teaching; Portuguese language content; didatization.

Electronic deconstruction

This article introduces a corpus-based procedure for revealing tensions in a text which seeks to persuade an audience into a particular point of view on a particular topic, tensions which may otherwise be difficult to see; the text is thus deconstructed and loses credibility. I refer to this corpus-based, critical approach to revealing tensions in such texts as Electronic Deconstruction. In drawing on corpus linguistic method for this end, as well to help reduce interpretative bias, the article bears resemblance to Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis. However, in two crucial respects it is different. This is because: i) its corpus-based, deconstructive focus is cohesion in a text which seeks to persuade an audience into a particular point of view and ii) it takes its theoretical stimulus from the work of Jacques Derrida.