Repetitive thinking styles such as rumination are considered to be a key factor in the development and maintenance of mental disorders. Different situational triggers (e.g., social stressors) have been shown to elicit rumination in subjects exhibiting such habitual thinking styles. At the same time, the process of rumination influences the adaption to stressful situations. The study at hand aim...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between nursing students’ empathy and their critical thinking disposition and problem solving process. For this purpose, 246 nursing students were surveyed using a structured questionnaire on their empathy, critical thinking disposition, and problem solving process. According to the results of data analyses, the subjects’ critical think...

This article reviews recent evidence for the benefits of negative affect for thinking and behavior, consistent with evolutionary theories suggesting an adaptive function for all affective states. Numerous experiments demonstrate that negative affect can improve memory performance, reduce judgmental errors, improve motivation, and result in more effective interpersonal strategies. These findings...

Aberrant false-positive reactions in negative-controls during ELISA testing for Clostridium difficile indicated the potential for false-diagnoses. Experiments with 96-well products showed a maximum peak of false-positive immunoassay reactions with the provided negative-control reagents after 5 refrigeration-to-room temperature cycles (P < 0.001), decreasing thereafter with additional refrigerat...

This opinion statement points out some of the considerations and pitfalls in using virtual reality computer programs in the teaching of life sciences. Emphasis is placed on the possibility of such programs leading to reductionist thinking including how reductionist thinking could foster the formation of misconceptions. Negative feedback is used as the classic example of reductionist thinking in...

Counterfactuals are mental representations of alternatives to the past and produce consequences that are both beneficial and aversive to the individual. These apparently contradictory effects are integrated in a functionalist model of counterfactual thinking. The author reviews research in support of the assertions that (a) counterfactual thinking is activated automatically in response to negat...