Pennie S. Seibert

Irrelevant thoughts, emotional mood states, and cognitive task performance

In two experiments, we investigated the relationship shared by irrelevant thoughts, emotional mood states, and cognitive task performance. At an empirical level, irrelevant thoughts were defined as thoughts that did not facilitatesuccessful task performance. We used the same general procedure for both experiments: three groups of college students received happy-, neutral- (control), or sad-mood inductions and performed a memory task. The procedure for obtaining thoughts varied between experiments. The subjects in Experiment 1 listed their thoughts after the memory recall task. In Experiment 2, the subjects were tape-recorded while performing a memory task and producing concurrent verbal protocols. The subjects in both experiments then judged their thoughts in terms of frequency, intensity,and irrelevance. Wefound a similar pattern of results in both experiments: (1) The proportions ofirrelevant thoughts and recall performance were -negatively related, and (2) happy and sad studentsproduced reliably greater proportions of irrelevant thoughts than did neutral (control) students.

Brain injury: quality of life's greatest challenge

The objectives of this investigation were to (1) identify elements that comprise an acceptable quality of life (Q-L) post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) from the perspectives of patients and families, and (2) explore patient and family satisfaction with treatment decisions relevant to QoL. The authors created, tested, and administered two forms (patient; family) of a 35-question interview to 33 participants in a longitudinal TBI study (14 women, 19 men) and 33 associated family members. Men associated ratings of QoL with numerous variables, while womens responses revealed no significant relationships shared by QoL and other variables. Women reported a poorer QoL than did men. Older patients reported a better QoL than did younger patients. Families emphasized the family relationship, emotional control, and ability to concentrate when considering overall QoL. Patients did not. The majority of patients and families expressed satisfaction with decisions made about acute treatment. QoL research is essential to illuminate best practice models.

A checklist to facilitate cultural awareness and sensitivity

United States of America demographic profiles illustrate a nation rich in cultural and racial diversity. Approximately 29% of the population are minorities and demographic projections indicate an increase to 50% by the year 2050. This creates a highly mobile and constantly changing environment, revealing the need for new levels of cultural awareness and sensitivity. These issues are particularly critical in the medical community where medical professionals must understand the impact cultural differences and barriers can have on evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation. During times of stress, such as when injury strikes, problems associated with lack of cultural sensitivity are intensified. Cultural diversity is of particular concern when standard measures for diagnosis and prognosis are derived from established norms for responding, because culture defines norms. This paper details a ten point checklist designed to facilitate cultural awareness and sensitivity in medical settings to ensure maximum successful recovery and outcomes for all patients.

Diversity Within Spatial Cognition: Memory Processes Underlying Place Recognition

We conducted three experiments to explore distinct memory processes involved in remembering places in spatial environments. The results of all three experiments demonstrated the viability of the process-dissociation procedure for studying spatial cognition ; that procedure yielded separate measures of the role of familiarity (implicit memory) and conscious recollection (explicit memory) in recognizing scenes along a previously viewed route of travel. Those measures were not affected by whether the participants viewed videotapes or also physically walked the route of travel. Increasing the delay between encoding and retrieval led to comparable effects for familiarity and conscious recollection (Experiment 1). In contrast, the adverse consequences of dividing attention during encoding were specific to conscious recollection ; familiarity estimates were unaffected (Experiments 2 and 3). Overall, the results reinforced the viability of process dissociation as a vehicle for exploring diverse memory processes underlying place recognition.

Conscious and unconscious retrieval in picture recognition : A framework for exploring gender differences

The authors explored gender differences by examining 2 distinct memory processes involved in recognizing pictures that were scenes captured from videotapes. For Study 1, the authors used a process dissociation procedure (L.J. Anooshian & P.S. Seibert, 1995; L.L. Jacoby, 1991) to obtain separate estimates of the contributions of recollection (conscious retrieval) and sense of familiarity (unconscious retrieval) in recognizing scenes along previously viewed routes of travel. Women obtained higher familiarity scores than did men, whereas no gender difference emerged for conscious recollection. In Study 2, the authors tested both preschool children and adults and found results similar to those in Study 1 for a task with pictures captured from childrens cartoons, regardless of age. The results from these studies illustrate the need for greater attention to diverse memory processes when investigating individual differences, including gender differences, in diverse task domains.

Indirect Expression of Preference in Sketch Maps

First graders, fifth graders, university students, and older adults drew sketch maps of familiar environments. Not until after the sketch maps were collected did subjects have any idea that the study had anything to do with expression of preferences. At that time, subjects were asked to identify (recall) objects located in the environment drawn that they liked most, disliked most, and about which they felt neutral These items were compared with other items on the sketch maps to determine whether they were drawn on the same scale, were emphasized, or were absent. A similar pattern of results was found across age groups; most of the subjects did not draw items they disliked on their sketch maps. These results suggested a dissociation between indirect (map drawing) and direct (specific recall) approaches to expressing preferences.

The emerging role of telemedicine in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders

Over one-third of adults are at risk of developing sleep disorders. Telemedicine is emerging as an effective tool in sleep medicine by allowing people to undergo sleep studies without overnight hospital stays (e.g. monitoring at home). Telemedicine has the potential to overcome several obstacles in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders by offering increased access to sleep specialists, enhancing health-care support for patients in their homes and providing cost-effective professional education. The initial costs for telemedicine equipment and training are not insignificant; however, the benefits may outweigh the expense over time. However, recapturing the initial costs cannot be assumed.

Cranio-cervical stabilization of traumatic atlanto-occipital dislocation with minimal resultant neurological deficit

SummaryOur purpose is to describe a case of atlanto-occipital dislocation and discuss treatment approaches to minimize subsequent neurological deficits. Traumatic atlanto-occipital dislocation, has traditionally been considered rare and lethal, due to resulting high levels of spinal cord injury. Outcomes are generally expected to be poor. However, recent case reports indicate that survival is increasing. Of patients who survive cranio-cervical dislocation, many endure resulting neurological deficits.We present a rare case of a 23-year-old male, who sustained an atlanto-occipital dislocation in a motor vehicle accident. The patient presented with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of 11T. Lateral C-spine x-ray and thin-section slices CT delineated a C1 ring fracture on the left side with approximately 1 cm anterior and superior subluxation of the occipital condyles of the cranium in reference to C1. The patient was completely awake, alert, and was following commands.The patient underwent a cranio-cervical stabilization from occiput to C3, using lateral mas screws (C1–C3) and transarticular screws (C2–C3). The Vertex (Medtronics) system used included longitudinal bars connected to the lateral mas plating system, which was subsequently used to place screws within the keel of the occipital bone. Motor strength and sensation remained intact following surgery. One-week post-operation, the patient was ambulating 140 feet, conversationally appropriate, and had a GCS of 15. This case illustrates the possibility for neurosurgical intervention of cranio-cervical dislocations to achieve optimal outcome and demonstrates that survival from this injury is not only conceivable, but recovery of function is also possible.

Case Study Music and the Brain: The Impact of Music on an Oboist's Fight for Recovery

A 20-year-old female, alias Sara, was an aspiring professional oboist who studied music performance at college level. While wading across a river she lost her balance, was swept down river, and suffered profound injuries including severe hypothermia, cardiac arrest, and hypoxic brain injury. While recovering, her family and friends surrounded Sara with music. Her oboe teacher placed Saras oboe in her hand and played tapes of Saras past performances. Her mother played recordings of her favourite music in hopes that the music would remind her of her lifes passion and, thus, stimulate her mind and soul while she recovered. Two years post-injury, Sara continues to strive to improve her quality of life. In this case study, Saras musical and medical recovery is detailed using quantitative and qualitative data. This data gathered allows one to provide an analysis of the powerful role of music in Saras fight to recover.A 20-year-old female, alias Sara, was an aspiring professional oboist who studied music performance at college level. While wading across a river she lost her balance, was swept down river, and suffered profound injuries including severe hypothermia, cardiac arrest, and hypoxic brain injury. While recovering, her family and friends surrounded Sara with music. Her oboe teacher placed Saras oboe in her hand and played tapes of Saras past performances. Her mother played recordings of her favourite music in hopes that the music would remind her of her lifes passion and, thus, stimulate her mind and soul while she recovered. Two years post-injury, Sara continues to strive to improve her quality of life. In this case study, Saras musical and medical recovery is detailed using quantitative and qualitative data. This data gathered allows one to provide an analysis of the powerful role of music in Saras fight to recover.

The Use of Telemedicine to Train Perioperative Nurses in Rural Settings

The training available to perioperative nurses in rural areas is often inefficient and can be difficult to access. We designed a distance training programme using educational material from the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN). Over a six-year period, we compared the performance of 22 nurses undertaking the programme via telemedicine with that of 13 nurses undertaking it conventionally, in person. The telemedicine nurses were based at six rural hospitals and interacted with their preceptors via remotely controlled videoconferencing systems. There was no significant difference in the time taken to complete the programme: 118 days in the telemedicine group and 84 days in the in-person group. There were no significant differences between groups in the AORN module scores. The average AORN final examination score was 88% for the telemedicine group and 91% for the in-person group. The scores from skills assessed were not significantly different between groups. The majority of students in the in-person and telemedicine groups considered that the programme was a success (92% and 91% respectively). The study suggests that telemedicine merits serious consideration for training in perioperative nursing specifically, and probably more generally in the nursing field.