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Wie klingt Motivation?
(2018)
Zusammenfassung.Hintergrund/Fragestellung: Während einer erfolgreichen Psychotherapie – so Miller und Rollnick (2013) – initiiert der Therapeut ein lautes Nachdenken über Veränderung (change talk), das eine Verhaltensänderung einleitet und verschiedene Facetten der Motivation eines Patienten spiegelt. Auf den preparatory change talk (desire, ability, reasons, need) folgt der mobilizing change talk (commitment, activation, taking steps) und schließlich die Verhaltensänderung. Die vorliegende Studie ist ein erster Versuch, deutsche Begriffe und Redewendungen zu analysieren, um Therapeuten die Einschätzung der Motivation eines Patienten zu erleichtern. Methodik: Das schrittweise Vorgehen entsprach weitgehend einem in der englischsprachigen Literatur beschriebenen Verfahren zur Einschätzung von Begriffen und Redewendungen hinsichtlich der Motivation eines Sprechers (vgl. Amrhein, 2009): (1) Generierung einer Sammlung relevanter Begriffe und Redewendungen, (2) Einschätzung der Stärke einer Formulierung durch 430 Probanden, (3) Bestimmung der Retestreliabilität anhand der Einschätzungen von 63 Probanden, (4) Kategorisierung von 140 Begriffen und Redewendungen durch drei Experten. Ergebnisse: Die ausgewählten Begriffe und Phrasen lassen sich zuverlässig den von Miller und Rollnick (2013) beschriebenen Kategorien Preparatory Change Talk oder Mobilizing Change Talk zuordnen, κ = .83 (95 % CI, .80 ≤ κ≤ .85), p < .001, und spiegeln darüber hinaus verschiedene Ausprägungen der Motivation eines Sprechers wider. Die Einschätzungen der Stärke einer Formulierung sind jedoch nicht stabil (Retestreliabilität: .21 ≤ rtt ≤.70). Schlussfolgerungen: Die Beachtung typischer Schlüsselwörter kann das richtige Timing einer Intervention erleichtern und darüber hinaus Auskunft über die „Entschlossenheit“ eines Patienten geben. Im Rahmen von Forschungsprojekten könnten auf der Basis erweiterter Sammlungen relevanter Begriffe und Redewendungen Algorithmen entwickelt werden, die eine Einschätzung der Motivation und damit prognostisch bedeutsame Aussagen erlauben.
Meaning-making in the brain has become one of the most intensely discussed topics in cognitive science. Traditional theories on cognition that emphasize abstract symbol manipulations often face a dead end: The symbol grounding problem. The embodiment idea tries to overcome this barrier by assuming that the mind is grounded in sensorimotor experiences. A recent surge in behavioral and brain-imaging studies has therefore focused on the role of the motor cortex in language processing. Concrete, action-related words have received convincing evidence to rely on sensorimotor activation. Abstract concepts, however, still pose a distinct challenge for embodied theories on cognition. Fully embodied abstraction mechanisms were formulated but sensorimotor activation alone seems unlikely to close the explanatory gap. In this respect, the idea of integration areas, such as convergence zones or the ‘hub and spoke’ model, do not only appear like the most promising candidates to account for the discrepancies between concrete and abstract concepts but could also help to unite the field of cognitive science again. The current review identifies milestones in cognitive science research and recent achievements that highlight fundamental challenges, key questions and directions for future research.
Meaning-making in the brain has become one of the most intensely discussed topics in cognitive science. Traditional theories on cognition that emphasize abstract symbol manipulations often face a dead end: The symbol grounding problem. The embodiment idea tries to overcome this barrier by assuming that the mind is grounded in sensorimotor experiences. A recent surge in behavioral and brain-imaging studies has therefore focused on the role of the motor cortex in language processing. Concrete, action-related words have received convincing evidence to rely on sensorimotor activation. Abstract concepts, however, still pose a distinct challenge for embodied theories on cognition. Fully embodied abstraction mechanisms were formulated but sensorimotor activation alone seems unlikely to close the explanatory gap. In this respect, the idea of integration areas, such as convergence zones or the ‘hub and spoke’ model, do not only appear like the most promising candidates to account for the discrepancies between concrete and abstract concepts but could also help to unite the field of cognitive science again. The current review identifies milestones in cognitive science research and recent achievements that highlight fundamental challenges, key questions and directions for future research.
Conceptual knowledge about objects, people and events in the world is central to human cognition, underlying core cognitive abilities such as object recognition and use, and word comprehension. Previous research indicates that concepts consist of perceptual and motor features represented in modality-specific perceptual-motor brain regions. In addition, cross-modal convergence zones integrate modality-specific features into more abstract conceptual representations.
However, several questions remain open: First, to what extent does the retrieval of perceptual-motor features depend on the concurrent task? Second, how do modality-specific and cross-modal regions interact during conceptual knowledge retrieval? Third, which brain regions are causally relevant for conceptually-guided behavior? This thesis addresses these three key issues using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the healthy human brain.
Study 1 - an fMRI activation study - tested to what extent the retrieval of sound and action features of concepts, and the resulting engagement of auditory and somatomotor brain regions depend on the concurrent task. 40 healthy human participants performed three different tasks - lexical decision, sound judgment, and action judgment - on words with a high or low association to sounds and actions. We found that modality-specific regions selectively respond to task-relevant features: Auditory regions selectively responded to sound features during sound judgments, and somatomotor regions selectively responded to action features during action judgments. Unexpectedly, several regions (e.g. the left posterior parietal cortex; PPC) exhibited a task-dependent response to both sound and action features. We propose these regions to be "multimodal", and not "amodal", convergence zones which retain modality-specific information.
Study 2 - an fMRI connectivity study - investigated the functional interaction between modality-specific and multimodal areas during conceptual knowledge retrieval. Using the above fMRI data, we asked (1) whether modality-specific and multimodal regions are functionally coupled during sound and action feature retrieval, (2) whether their coupling depends on the task, (3) whether information flows bottom-up, top-down, or bidirectionally, and (4) whether their coupling is behaviorally relevant. We found that functional coupling between multimodal and modality-specific areas is task-dependent, bidirectional, and relevant for conceptually-guided behavior. Left PPC acted as a connectivity "switchboard" that flexibly adapted its coupling to task-relevant modality-specific nodes.
Hence, neuroimaging studies 1 and 2 suggested a key role of left PPC as a multimodal convergence zone for conceptual knowledge. However, as neuroimaging is correlational, it remained unknown whether left PPC plays a causal role as a multimodal conceptual hub. Therefore, study 3 - a TMS study - tested the causal relevance of left PPC for sound and action feature retrieval. We found that TMS over left PPC selectively impaired action judgments on low sound-low action words, as compared to sham stimulation. Computational simulations of the TMS-induced electrical field revealed that stronger stimulation of left PPC was associated with worse performance on action, but not sound, judgments. These results indicate that left PPC causally supports conceptual processing when action knowledge is task-relevant and cannot be compensated by sound knowledge. Our findings suggest that left PPC is specialized for action knowledge, challenging the view of left PPC as a multimodal conceptual hub.
Overall, our studies support "hybrid theories" which posit that conceptual processing involves both modality-specific perceptual-motor regions and cross-modal convergence zones. In our new model of the conceptual system, we propose conceptual processing to rely on a representational hierarchy from modality-specific to multimodal up to amodal brain regions. Crucially, this hierarchical system is flexible, with different regions and connections being engaged in a task-dependent fashion. Our model not only reconciles the seemingly opposing grounded cognition and amodal theories, it also incorporates task dependency of conceptually-related brain activity and connectivity, thereby resolving several current issues on the neural basis of conceptual knowledge retrieval.
Contrary to earlier studies dealing with the cultural identity development of diasporic minorities, this paper assesses the impact of homogeneity on intra-group cohesion and ethnic orientation. To this end, Oromo-Americans, an ethnic group originally located within the national borders of Ethiopia, will be compared to Armenian-Americans, British-Pakistanis and Somali-Americans. Despite different circumstances, all four groups share the experience of displacement owing to war and destitution. Additionally, all groups are confronted with the ramifications of a visible minority status. In the process of comparing these groups, their degrees of homogeneity in regard to language and religion - central aspects of culture and cultural identity - will be examined and juxtaposed at a macro level. Based on the correlative relationship of group homogeneity and social cohesion, I argue that the more homogeneous a group is in terms of language and religion, the more close-knit it will be. Consequently, exiled minorities who share the same language and religion are more likely to develop and retain a strong ethnic orientation than groups who are heterogeneous with regard to language and/or religion.
Studies have evaluated the effectiveness of dual career (DC) support services among student-athletes by examining scholastic performances.
These studies investigated self-reported grades student-athletes or focused on career choices student-athletes made after leaving school. Most of these studies examined scholastic performances cross-sectionally among lower secondary school student-athletes or student-athletes in higher education.
The present longitudinal field study in a quasi-experimental design aims to evaluate the development of scholastic performances among upper secondary school students aged 16-19 by using standardized scholastic assessments and grade points in the subject English over a course of 3-4 years.
A sample of 159 students (54.4% females) at three German Elite Sport Schools (ESS) and three comprehensive schools participated in the study. The sample was split into six groups according to three criteria: (1) students' athletic engagement, (2) school type attendance, and (3) usage of DC support services in secondary school.
Repeated-measurement analyses of variance were conducted in order to evaluate the impact of the three previously mentioned criteria as well as their interaction on the development of scholastic performances.
Findings indicated that the development of English performance levels differ among the six groups.
Sprache im Musikunterricht
(2017)
Mit dem vorliegenden Band 5 der Potsdamer Schriftenreihe zur Musikpädagogik wird die bildungspolitische Diskussion um den Stellenwert bewussten Sprachhandelns im Fach aufgegriffen. Ausgehend vom aktuellen Forschungsstand zum Thema „Sprache und Sprechen im Musikunterricht“ werden Forschungsarbeiten vorgestellt, die in diesem Kontext zwischen 2013 und 2016 am Lehrstuhl für Musikpädagogik und Musikdidaktik der Universität Potsdam entstanden sind. Die Beiträge skizzieren sowohl Möglichkeiten zur Umsetzung eines sprachbildenden Fachunterrichts Musik als auch soziale Aspekte sprachlichen Lehrerhandelns und setzen damit neue Impulse im musikpädagogischen Diskurs.
Die Veröffentlichung der vorliegenden Forschungsergebnisse wurde durch die Unterstützung des Ministeriums für Arbeit, Soziales, Gesundheit, Frauen und Familie des Landes Brandenburg und der Integrationsbeauftragten sowie durch die Universitätsgesellschaft Potsdam e. V. ermöglicht.
The present study examines the effect of language experience on vocal emotion perception in a second language. Native speakers of French with varying levels of self-reported English ability were asked to identify emotions from vocal expressions produced by American actors in a forced-choice task, and to rate their pleasantness, power, alertness and intensity on continuous scales. Stimuli included emotionally expressive English speech (emotional prosody) and non-linguistic vocalizations (affect bursts), and a baseline condition with Swiss-French pseudo-speech. Results revealed effects of English ability on the recognition of emotions in English speech but not in non-linguistic vocalizations. Specifically, higher English ability was associated with less accurate identification of positive emotions, but not with the interpretation of negative emotions. Moreover, higher English ability was associated with lower ratings of pleasantness and power, again only for emotional prosody. This suggests that second language skills may sometimes interfere with emotion recognition from speech prosody, particularly for positive emotions.