Speedy Training Resources

A computerised learning tool helps boost study effectiveness

Much of psychology’s efforts over the last few decades have been spent on understanding the nature of memory. Increasingly, though, psychologists are beginning to apply what we’ve learned about memory, so as to help enhance people’s performance. In 2007, the Digest reported on a study that investigated the optimal interval to leave between study periods if you want to remember material long term. Now Claudia Meltzer-Baddeley and Roland Baddeley have tested a related approach to study, known as adaptive training, and found that it too helps boost learning.

Adaptive training is a strategic form of study that ensures the learner spends more time focused on material they know less well and less time focused on already mastered material. This means that less familiar material is re-examined more frequently, while better mastered material is gradually left for longer and longer periods. It’s possible to employ this kind of system by using stacks of learning cards, whereby correctly answered cards are placed on piles that are re-tested less often. However, there are computerised tools like “SuperMemo” that simplify and enhance this process, allowing the learner to say how confidently they answered each item, which in turn influences the likelihood of that item appearing again.

Meltzer-Baddeley and Baddeley tested the ability of 32 undergrads to learn Spanish vocabulary using the SuperMemo software. Crucially, they compared the learning effectiveness of two versions - one employed adaptive training, whilst the other version simply randomised the presentation of the study items. The researchers found that the adaptive training version significantly boosted performance on a vocab test given immediately after training and two weeks’ later, compared with performance using the simple randomised presentation of study items.

The size of the adaptive training benefit was modest but the researchers said “in real life situations, in which motivated people may come back to material repeatedly across larger periods of times, we would expect much bigger advantages of adaptive spacing.” They concluded that adaptive computer based training programmes could prove to be a useful tool “to enhance memory in healthy individuals, as well as people with learning and memory problems.”
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Metzler-Baddeley, C., & Baddeley, R. (2009). Does adaptive training work? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23 (2), 254-266 DOI: 10.1002/acp.1454

July 2nd, 2009 | Posted in Psychological Resources | No Comments

Converting people into patients !

I recently received this email from an infertile couple. Her gynecologist had recommended a routine vaginal ultrasound scan, which was reported as follows.

Both ovaries are normal in size and shape. There is a well defined hypoechoic cystic lesion in both ovary measuring RT - 11x12.5x10.3 mms with volume 0.7ccs and LT - 12.8x14.3x15.4mms with volume 1.5ccs. It shows marked low level internal echoes and small focal calcification. No evidence of free fluid in pelvic cul-de-sac.Hence bilateral small ovarian lesion -endometrioma.

Their gynecologist had advised them medication to resolve the cyst; and a repeat scan after 6 weeks to confirm the cyst had disappeared.

They wanted a second opinion, as to whether this was good advise.

Please read the report carefully again. Don’t worry about the gobbledygook or the medical jargon. My point is that medical scan reports are often deliberately full of this, in order to worry patients and send them scurrying to their doctors. The cyst is about 10 mm in size - this means it’s only about 1 cm ! It’s extremely small - and the only reason it can be detected is because the ultrasound machines today are high resolution machines, on which the images can be zoomed, till normal anatomical structures can be interpreted as “lesions” which need treatment ! Unfortunately, most people are innumerate ; and not sophisticated in enough to interpret the report. Others trust their doctor blindly - and expect him to do what is needed. This is why George Bernard Shaw said that all professions are a conspiracy against the laity !

The beauty of this scan is that the doctor has done everything by the book ! He has simply reported everything he saw - in excruciating ( and unnecessary ) detail ! So why am I finding fault with him ?

Many reasons ! For one, this report is “pseudo-accurate” ! It’s simply impossible to measure structures in terms of 0.1 mm ! While it’s possible to position electronic calipers and read off their readout, this simply shows that the doctor is not applying his mind ! This is false accuracy and precision which misleads the patient.

Secondly, the interpretation is highly suspect. The ovary is normally a cystic structure, and this tiny “cyst” could just as well be a normal ovarian follicle, which contains a mature egg , rather than a “lesion”.

Thirdly, he has deliberately reported his measurements in mm rather than cm - thus making the “lesion” appear larger. This can mislead poorly informed patients !

So is the radiologist not very bright ? On the contrary - he is very smart - he is a willing accomplice in the game being played by the referring gynecologist !

Doctors often send patients for scans. This is often to rule out problems - and to show patients how careful and thorough they are. Most patients are happy do these scans - after all, what’s the risk of doing just a test ?

The trick is that the radiologist then “finds abnormalities” - even though he knows they are of no importance, and may be just normal anatomic variants. The patient reads the report - and then worries because of all the abnormalities which have been picked up. Off he goes back to the gynecologist, for treatment. The doctor is happy to comply , because this means more follow up visits - and additional income !

It’s possible to milk this for many months because the new ultrasound machines can pick up tiny fibroids and cysts for practically all women, because these are such common findings ! The woman has now been converted into a patient - and she is now stuck on a game which shuttles her back and forth from radiologist to gynecologist, and it’s extremely hard to escape this.

The danger is not just that of the money being wasted on the overdiagnosis and overtreatment - or on the unnecessary anxiety which is created. The bigger risk is that sooner or later some trigger happy gynecologist will decide that the cyst is not responding to medical treatment - and needs to be removed surgically. This unnecessary surgery will actually reduce the woman’s fertility - thus making her an infertile patient who will need to come and see me !

I have discussed gynecological scans in this post - but the tragedy is that this charade is played out in practically all fields today !

July 1st, 2009 | Posted in Medical Training | No Comments

The simplest way to improve morale

Say thank you.

Sounds simple enough, right?

In most businesses across the country, numbers are down and stress levels are skyrocketing. It’s an unfortunate combination that doesn’t do much for employee morale.

Right now, you may not have the money to take your team out for lunch or the company can’t contribute to a recognition program. It’s times like these when you’ll find that sometimes it’s the simplest signs of appreciation that can do an even better job than the fancy stuff.

Showing honest appreciation for the people on your team can do wonders for morale. Whether you stop by their desk to say thanks for their help on that last project or leave a funny greeting card on their desk expressing how much you appreciate all the hard work they put in, simple recognition can go a long way.

I recently came across a great post at Pamela Slim’s Escape From Cubicle Nation where Slim shared a personal story about a day that began with a not-so-pleasant experience at the airport.

She was dropped off almost two hours before her 6:30 a.m. flight, well before Starbucks opened their doors, and had to navigate through a blockade of airport construction. The caffeine-less Slim decided to sit down and write a blog post, but the only topics that came to mind included why mean people suck and sleep deprivation.

Then, almost magically, she received a tweet from a fan of her book: “@pamslim Pam, your book really is an achievement. It’s the best book I have read on the topic and the one I will be recommending widely.”

The message changed her mood right there on the spot. So much of a change that she started thinking of ways to show the same kindness as her tweeting fan.

Now I will look for opportunities throughout my trip to show the same kindness as Daniel, by doing things like:

Saying thank you often and sincerely

Complimenting someone on a job well done

Encouraging to my clients and students

Kindness is not a little thing. It is not fluffy, unicorn and rainbow coachy stuff.

Kindness heals.

I highly recommend it.

The next time someone on your team looks like they’re having a difficult day, use it as an opportunity to share some words of encouragement and appreciation. In the same way it turned Slim’s day around, your words have the power to change their day for the better.

July 1st, 2009 | Posted in Various Training | No Comments

Why the consultant must take the patient’s history himself

It’s very common these days to find that busy consultants often do not take the patient’s history themselves. Because they are so busy and need to maximize their efficiency , usually the history is taken by an assistant or a nurse. This person has a standard preprinted form ; and asks questions mechanically to ensure that the form is completely filled. The patient then goes with this filled in form to see the consultant; who then proceeds to examine the patient and orders tests.

The advantage of this system is that is maximizes throughput for the consultant, who can then see about 10 patients in an hour. It also ensures that all the information in the form is completely and systematically filled out .

While many consultants will swear by this system because it’s one they have used for many years, the sad truth is that this is not the best method for the patient. The quality of the patient’s history depends to a large extent on the clinical expertise of the doctor asking the questions - and an experienced clinician is far better at this as compared to a junior doctor or a preprinted form. In fact I feel the distinguishing factor between an experienced doctor and a junior is that a good doctor knows how to take a history ; which questions to ask; and how to interpret these questions . Unfortunately , this is not something which can be taught easily ; and is not efficiently done with the check box system.

This is why in real life , when a patient is referred to a senior consultant, the one thing which this doctor will do ( which was often not done properly before ) is sit down and talk to the patient. Many more puzzling clinical problems are solved by a carefully taken history , rather than by ordering more lab tests or scans.

Not only will taking the history personally improve the care the patient gets, this history taking session is a great opportunity for the consultant to establish rapport with the patient and build trust and confidence in the doctor’s skills. It also gives the clinician a chance to connect with the patient and display empathy and compassion. This can be hard to do nowadays, when clinic visits have to be compressed within 10 minutes. Unfortunately , by not giving patients the time and respect that they deserve, we end up doing everyone a disservice.

July 1st, 2009 | Posted in Medical Training | No Comments

The Special Issue Spotter

We trawl the world’s journals so you don’t have to:

Sport & Exercise Psychology in Europe: Building on 40 years of FEPSAC - the European Federation of Sports Psychology (Psychology of Sport and Exercise).

Psychology in an economic world (Applied Psychology).

Shyness and language (Infant and Child Development).

Episodic Memory and the Brain (Neuropsychologia).

Genetics of High Cognitive Ability (Behavioural Genetics).

June 30th, 2009 | Posted in Psychological Resources | No Comments

Study: Online, blended learning better than face-to-face

Incorporating technology in classroom instruction can enhance learning, according to a U.S. Department of Education analysis of controlled studies comparing online and face-to-face instruction.

The Department of Education analyzed 46 studies comparing online learning to face-to-face education and concluded that “blended learning,” or program that utilize both online and face-to-face learning, is more effective than using one method alone.

From the Department of Education press release:

The meta analysis showed that “blended” instruction – combining elements of online and face-to-face instruction – had a larger advantage relative to purely face to face instruction or instruction conducted wholly online. The analysis also showed that the instruction conducted wholly on line was more effective in improving student achievement than the purely face to face instruction. In addition, the report noted that the blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions.

From the authors’ discussion section of the study:

That caution [not to assume that an effect is due to a given medium] applies well to the findings of this meta-analysis, which should not be construed as demonstrating that online learning is superior as a medium. Rather, it is the combination of elements in the treatment conditions, which are likely to include additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration, that has proven effective. The meta-analysis findings do not support simply putting an existing course online, but they do support redesigning instruction to incorporate additional learning opportunities online.

Read Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies (2009).

The department noted that this new meta-analysis goes against previous studies, which generally found that online and face-to-face education methods were comparable in their learning effectiveness.

June 30th, 2009 | Posted in Various Training | No Comments

Want A Baby? India Beckons by Taru Bahl

Want A Baby? India Beckons by Taru Bahl: “Audrey and Derek are one of the many childless couples who come to India with the hope of going back home with their very own bundle of joy. Fertility tourism is big business now - the industry reportedly brings in hundreds of millions of dollars into the county. In fact, reports also suggest that the number of such cases has more than doubled in the last three years. The reasons: pocket-friendly treatment, world-class heath care facilities, a large base of English-speaking doctors, relatively fewer legal hurdles… the list is long.”

June 30th, 2009 | Posted in Medical Training | No Comments

Walking in other people’s digital shoes could back-fire

They say you should walk a mile in a person’s shoes before judging them. Virtual reality technology offers this possibility by allowing us to control a digital representation of another person. Unfortunately, the first ever investigation of racial perspective-taking in an immersive virtual environment has found that assuming a different racial identity leads to increased racial bias, not less.

Victoria Groom and colleagues invited 98 participants, half of whom were of White ethnicity, to view a photograph of either a Black or White person of the same gender as themselves, and to imagine they were that person. Next the participants donned a virtual reality headset which transported them to an empty room where they were interviewed for a job, still playing the role of that other person. Crucially, half the participants could see their new identity in a mirror in the virtual room, and as they answered some introductory questions they spent at least a minute observing their adopted selves in the mirror.

After this brief immersive experience, White participants who’d assumed a new identity as a Black person, and seen their new identity in the mirror, showed increased implicit racial bias, as compared with the White participants who’d embodied the identity of a White person. Black participants too, showed increased implicit bias against Black people after embodying the virtual identity of another Black person. For the participants who didn’t see their new digital selves in the virtual mirror, there were no effects on racial bias.

Implicit bias was measured using the implicit association test, which records the ease with which people associate categories (such as positive words and African American names) by assigning those categories to the same or different response keys. Explicit racial bias was measured but was unaffected by the experiment.

The finding that embodying a Black person in a virtual environment can increase racial bias may seem counter-intuitive at first, but it’s possible that the effect occurred due to an established phenomenon known as “stereotype activation”, in which racially-relevant stimuli can activate negative stereotypes, even if those stereotypes aren’t endorsed. This would explain why the Black participants also showed increased implicit bias, and why explicit bias was unaffected in participants of both ethnicities.

“Those who have championed digital technologies as a means to render race flexible and racism obsolete maybe disheartened by these results,” the researchers said. However, they cautioned that their results are far from conclusive, especially given the brevity of the immersive experience studied in this experiment.
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Groom, V., Bailenson, J., & Nass, C. (2009). The influence of racial embodiment on racial bias in immersive virtual environments. Social Influence, 1-18 DOI: 10.1080/15534510802643750

June 29th, 2009 | Posted in Psychological Resources | No Comments

Are “lunch and learns” bad for business?

“Lunch and learn” programs are used by countless businesses to fit training and development into everyone’s busy day by turning employees’ lunchtime into informal training sessions.

While some feel that squeezing more learning into our jam-packed days with “lunch and learns” is a boon for business, others strongly believe that they can be quite a bother.

Nick Milton of Bath, UK, recently explained why he thinks “lunch and learns” are a bad idea in a post last week. While learning during lunchtime makes sense at first glance, it may be sending employees the wrong message. He writes:

But what message are you giving? You are giving the message that learning and knowledge sharing is not something that should be a priority during working hours, and should be fitted into spare lunchtimes. You are giving the message that learning is not real work, to be done during work time. You are giving the message that learning is something you can do while eating, and that you don’t need to give it full attention. You are making the tacit assumption that people will not turn up to learn something unless you bribe them with cookies.

If learning is important, don’t relegate it to lunchtime. How many other business activities would you hold at lunchtime, so people could eat as they participated? Would you have “lunch and budgeting?” “lunch and project planning?” lunch and personal appraisal?” “lunch and recruitment interviewing?” No you wouldn’t, so why relegate learning to lunchtime? (read the full post)

We’ve written before on the benefits of “lunch and learn” training, and how it can help businesses save money and improve employee productivity. But what works for one person or company may fail with another and it’s our job to learn from both sides of the equation.

So, we want to know what side you’re on. Have you tried “lunch and learn” seminars? Are you a fan? Why or why not?

 Please leave a comment and tell us about it.

June 29th, 2009 | Posted in Various Training | No Comments

Should doctors be frank and forthright ?

Everyone agrees doctors need to be honest with their patients, but this is fine only in abstraction. The real question is - how brutally honest do you want your doctor to be when it’s you are ill ? This can be a difficult question to answer, not only for patients, but for doctors as well ! Thoughtful doctors do their best to judge how much truth a patient can accept at a given time - and then provide the truth, in a form they feel will be palatable for the patient, in titrated doses.

Let’s take a patient who is terminally ill.
When should the doctor tell him ? Tell his relatives ? How should he tell them ?

Good doctors learn how to tell bad news with grace - while others mess this up or delegate this job to their juniors, doing both their patients and themselves a major disservice.

Good doctors tell patients the truth because they respect them and they feel it’s in the patient’s best interests that he knows the truth. Others will simply follow a “tell the unvarnished truth policy” to protect themselves, because they need to protect themselves from a possible malpractice suit.

And it’s not just when patients are terminally ill that doctors face these dilemmas. It can be a problem in all specialties, including IVF. For example, I saw a patient today who has testicular failure and who cannot have a baby with his own sperm. How do I break the news gently to him, without causing him harm or hurt ?
How much truth can he accept ? How do I judge this for each individual patient ?

I don’t want to be cruel and take away his hope ? But don’t I have a responsibility as a professional to tell him the unvarnished truth ? If I don’t he may end up wasting time and money pursuing ineffective treatment from quacks. I agree having to deal with a hopeless situation can be cruel - but false hope can be even crueller. Often it’s better to know the truth no matter how bitter it is, so patients can deal with it and move on with their lives. Many of them are much stronger than they realise - and a crisis can be a challenge and an opportunity as well !

June 29th, 2009 | Posted in Medical Training | No Comments

Speedy Training Resources

A computerised learning tool helps boost study effectiveness

Converting people into patients !

The simplest way to improve morale

Why the consultant must take the patient’s history himself

The Special Issue Spotter

Study: Online, blended learning better than face-to-face

Want A Baby? India Beckons by Taru Bahl

Walking in other people’s digital shoes could back-fire

Are “lunch and learns” bad for business?

Should doctors be frank and forthright ?

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