T. W. Allan Whitfield

Physiotherapists' reasons for selection of treatment techniques: A cross-national survey

Within the framework of evidence-based physiotherapy practice, a questionnaire survey was conducted to ascertain physiotherapists reasons for their selection of treatment techniques. The underlying interest lay in the utilisation of journal literature when selecting treatment techniques, which represent an aspect of the clinical reasoning process. One hundred and eighty physiotherapists in England and 141 physiotherapists in Australia participated. The results surprisingly indicate no major differences between the two national groups in the reasons they provided for their choice of treatment techniques, despite two decades of degree level education in Australia. Use of journal literature, and in particular research literature, as a basis for selecting techniques was virtually absent. For almost all techniques, selection was based primarily upon what was taught at initial training. Attendance at a practice-related course was favoured for specific techniques such as passive mobilisation/manipulation and Mc...

Integrating aesthetics within an evolutionary and psychological framework

Human Factors (HF) has traditionally concerned itself with usability, effectiveness and efficiency without regard for the impact that the ‘look and feel’ of products and services might have on human performance. Recent research shows clearly that aesthetics, a ubiquitous, powerful function that permeates the design of products and services, matters. Within a consumer-driven industrial society it is ignored at the manufacturers or service providers peril. In order to encourage HF researchers to begin thinking about aesthetics in design, this paper attempts to position aesthetics within an evolutionary context, and to provide both a psychological framework and physiological underpinnings. Whitfields Collative-Motivation models of aesthetics is outlined to account for results from much of the experimental research on preferences. Barnards Interacting Cognitive Sub-systems (ICS) architecture is discussed in some detail, as, contrary to most other cognitive frameworks, it allows smooth integration of cognition and emotion. Physiological processes involved in emotional responses are discussed and the ICS framework is applied to explain both these results and findings suggesting that ‘emotion precedes cognition’. Finally, the integration of aesthetics and the Collative-Motivation model within the ICS framework is attempted.

Beyond Prototypicality: Toward a Categorical-Motivation Model of Aesthetics

The article comments on the two early stages linking categorization to aesthetics, and introduces a third and unpublished stage. It expands upon a previous attempt (Whitfield, 1983) to reconcile the opposing positions occupied by the categorical and Collative-Motivational models. It does so by recourse to Tverskys (1977) distinction between two forms of feature salience—intensive and diagnostic. Features of high intensive salience should possess high arousal potential, while features of high diagnostic salience should be most prototypic. It postulates that intensive and diagnostic salience will be major determinants of aesthetic preference, and that the contribution of each will be a function of the categorical status—or meaningfulness—of the stimuli. This theoretical reconciliation could be termed a Categorical-Motivation model. Finally, attention is given to fundamental and unresolved problems that have undermined theory construction in the field of experimental aesthetics. These concern the nature of both the stimuli and the response measures typically employed. Questions of ecological validity are raised and the possible reinterpretation of results involving meaningless stimuli.

A multivariate analysis of physiotherapy clinicians’ journal readership

This paper describes a survey of journal readership by physiotherapists in hospital practice in England. With few exceptions, the results reveal extremely limited journal readership, though those who either had or were registered for a degree read more extensively. Using smallest space analysis, clear readership structures emerged that enabled differentiation between degree and non-degree respondents, and between what have been termed primary and secondary journal sources.

Audits of physiotherapy practice

Recent initiatives by the Department of Health to reform the health and therapy services place great emphasis on quality assurance, highlighting the need to evaluate performance by means of clinical audit. Whilst audit is an acknowledged method of evaluating the accuracy of treatment records, and the efficiency and effectiveness of practice, it can have a broader function. This paper provides the results of three audits of physiotherapy patient records, designed to determine (1) the range and extent of measurement used for objective phenomena, such as joint range and muscle strength, (2) the range of techniques used in the management of low back pain (LBP) and following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, and (3) the effectiveness of physiotherapy intervention in the treatment of LBP and following TKR. The audits were conducted in five hospitals in three counties of the north of England. A total of 1254 physiotherapy patient records from 1994 through 1996 met the criteria and were audited. These records...

The Professional Status of Designers: A National Survey of how Designers are Perceived

Increasingly, new occupations emerge that are keen to establish professional status, including those in the field of design. This study examines the familiarity with and perceived professional standing of six design occupations (fashion, furniture, graphic, industrial, interior and product design) by three respondent groups (designers, design educators and the public) within Australia. The study was conducted within the research paradigm of occupational prestige assessment. Regarding familiarity, it was found that the public knew less about these six design occupations than almost all of the other occupations included in the study, with industrial design being the least understood. For perceived level of professionalism, unsurprisingly, the designers and design educators perceived all of the design occupations as generally professional; however, the Public tended to regard them as semi-professional or even skilled workers. To analyse why this might be, design in Australia was evaluated against the generally recognized traits of professionalism. Design was found to lack an adequate career structure, with poor recruitment, training and induction practices. Combined with a low graduate starting salary and a casualized workforce, career prospects for young designers were seen as poorer than for other occupational groups. In addition, the absence of a professional body governing entry into the profession and the maintenance of standards is a serious deficit. Design bodies should be concerned about the public lack of understanding that was evident in this study, particularly if design wishes to advance its professional standing.

Towards a visual recognition threshold: New instrument shows humans identify animals with only 1 ms of visual exposure

The human visual system is very adept at extracting categorical information from complex scenes with only the briefest of exposure. Here we show that information from visual scenes can be processed to the level of identification with formally unattainable, ultra-brief (1ms) presentations. This brief presentation time is afforded by a new instrument, the light-emitting diode (LED) tachistoscope, in which a liquid crystal display (LCD) is illuminated externally by a brief LED flash after LCD steady-state is reached, such that image onset and offset timing can be precisely controlled. Photographs of animals were presented with or without backgrounds for 1ms and 10ms. The results indicate that visual recognition of objects benefits from presenting them in isolation rather than with a background at smaller (1ms) durations. In both conditions, however, animals could be recognised at 1ms at least 83% of the time, possibly due to iconic memory and top-down, feedback mechanisms.

Development of a light-emitting diode tachistoscope

This paper describes a new method for rapid visual stimulus delivery, the light-emitting diode (LED) tachistoscope. An array of white LEDs provided a luminous intensity greater than 1,000,000 mcd. This array was placed behind a liquid crystal display (LCD) to function as a backlight; switching it on and off determined the visibility of the display. Commands to illuminate for periods from 1 ms to continuously on were relayed from a computer to the LED array. Changes in luminous intensity at the surface of a LED and the LCD were recorded via oscilloscope. The required duration of light pulses consistently matched the durations displayed, with only microsecond discrepancies due to turn-on and turn-off delays. Images were illuminated on the LCD screen for as little as 1 ms, with the amplitude of the luminance consistent across trials. The LED tachistoscope can be used with any computer to display images extremely briefly, potentially at the submillisecond level, providing superior performance to traditional and computer monitor tachistoscopes.

The social standing of the design professions: an intercultural comparison

With the shift from a production-led to a consumption-led economy, Western industry has sought to increase growth via a constant search for innovation. Key agents in this process are designers, constituting a set of professions that has come to prominence over the past two decades, though one that has received little research attention. Conceived within the tradition of occupational prestige assessment, this study sought to position the design professions in terms of perceived social standing and a range of proximate measures. The subject groups comprised Australians and South Koreans, balanced to include subjects with and without training in design. This enabled both cultural differences and the effects of design training to be investigated. The results revealed only minor differences between the two national groups in the ranking of the various professions employed in the study. As expected, the Australian design trained group rated highly the standing of the design professions, though unexpectedly the Korean design trained group did not. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) revealed the use of more than one criterion when rating occupations on some scales, thereby adding to the body of evidence questioning the validity of the unidimensional scaling of prestige assessment. However, the dimensionality was scale and culture specific, as were differences in the structure of the MDSs. Differences due to training were minimal. The theoretical and methodological significance of these results is noted.

Theory Confrontation: Testing the Categorical-Motivation Model

Following the demise of Berlynes model, experimental aesthetics has lacked a unifying theory. The field now is characterized by a set of proximate and overlapping theories. In the main they are evolutionary, process-driven, distinguish between wired-in predispositions and acquired preferences, and reject a simple stimulus-driven approach and formulaic laws (e.g., color harmony, the golden section). They recognize aesthetic appraisal as a staged process from stimulus onset to response, and incorporate emotion as fundamental. On the deficit side, they are unclear as to the staged process, the role of processing components (e.g., fluency, appraisal, categorization), and their interaction. This article focuses upon one such theory, and seeks to further articulate it. Importantly, it advances testable hypotheses that would support or undermine it. It is suggested that greater emphases upon refutation would benefit theory construction in this field.