Six experiments investigated variables predicted to influence subjects’ tendency to classify items by a single property instead of overall similarity, following the paradigm of Norenzayan et al., who found that European Americans tended to give more “logical” rule-based responses. However, in five experiments with Mechanical Turk subjects and undergraduates at an American university, we found a consistent preference for similarity-based responding. A sixth experiment with Korean undergraduates revealed an effect of instructions, also reported by Norenzayan et al., in which classification (...) instructions led to majority rule-based responding but similarity instructions led to overall similarity grouping. Our American subjects showed no such difference and used similarity more overall. We conclude that Americans do not have a preference for rule responding in classification and discuss the differences between tasks that reliably show strong rule or unidimensional preferences in contrast to this classification paradigm. (shrink)

This study was an investigation of which distinctive elements would best describe good and bad death, preferences for life-sustaining treatment, and advance directives. The following elements of a good death were identified by surveying 185 acute-care hospital nurses: comfort, not being a burden to the family, a good relationship with family members, a readiness to die, and a belief in perpetuity. Comfort was regarded as the most important. Distinctive elements of a bad death were: persistent vegetative state, sudden death, pain (...) and agony, dying alone, and being a burden to the family. Of the 185 respondents, 90.8% answered that they did not intend to receive life-sustaining treatment if they suffered from a terminal illness without any chance of recovery; 77.8% revealed positive attitudes toward advance directives. Sixty-seven per cent of the respondents stated that they were willing to discuss their own death and dying; the perception of such discussions differed according to the medical condition (p = 0.001). The elements of a bad death differed significantly depending on the disease state (p = 0.003) and on economic status (p = 0.023). (shrink)

BackgroundThis study aimed to identify the healthcare providers’ experience and perspectives toward end-of-life care decisions focusing on end-of-life discussion and physician’s order of life-sustaining treatment documentation in Korea which are major parts of the Life-Sustaining Treatment Act.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted using a questionnaire developed by the authors. A total of 474 subjects—94 attending physicians, 87 resident physicians, and 293 nurses—participated in the survey, and the data analysis was performed in terms of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation using the (...) SPSS 24.0 program.ResultsStudy results showed that respondents were aware of terminal illness and physician’s order of life-sustaining treatment in Korea well enough except for some details. Physicians reported uncertainty in terminal state diagnosis and disease trajectory as the most challenging. Study participants regarded factors (related to relationships and communications) on the healthcare providers’ side as the major impediment to end-of-life discussion. Study respondents suggested that simplification of the process and more staff are required to facilitate end-of-life discussion and documentation.ConclusionBased on the study results, adequate education and training for better end-of-life discussion are required for future practice. Also, a simple and clear procedure for completing a physician’s order of life-sustaining treatment in Korea should be prepared and legal and ethical advice would be required. Since the enactment of the Life-Sustaining Treatment Act, several revisions already have been made including disease categories, thus continuous education to update and support clinicians is also called for. (shrink)

Generalized anxiety disorder can cause significant socioeconomic burden and daily life dysfunction; hence, therapeutic intervention through early detection is important. This study was the final stage of a 3-year anxiety screening tool development project that evaluated the psychometric properties and diagnostic screening utility of the Mental Health Screening Tool for Anxiety Disorders, which measures GAD. A total of 527 Koreans completed online and offline versions of the MHS: A, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and Penn State Worry Questionnaire. The (...) participants had an average age of 38.6 years and included 340 females. Participants were also administered the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Internal consistency, convergent/criterion validity, item characteristics, and test information were assessed based on the item response theory, and a factor analysis and cut-off score analyses were conducted. The MHS: A had good internal consistency and good convergent validity with other anxiety scales. The two versions of the MHS: A were nearly identical. It had a one-factor structure and showed better diagnostic accuracy for GAD detection than the GAD-7 and BAI. The IRT analysis indicated that the MHS: A was most informative as a screening tool for GAD. The MHS: A can serve as a clinically useful screening tool for GAD in Korea. Furthermore, it can be administered both online and offline and can be flexibly used as a brief mental health screener, especially with the current rise in telehealth. (shrink)

Praktische Lehre, Katholizismus und klassischer Konfuzianismus sind in der Philosophie von Tasan Chŏng mit verschiedenen Inhalten repräsentiert. Sie wurden jedoch nicht voneinander abgegrenzt, sondern bilden den umfassenden Ursprung seiner Philosophie in einheitlicher Wechselbeziehung. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit wird die Entfaltung des Neokonfuzianismus, die Entwicklung der Praktischen Lehre und die Einführung der europäischen Wissenschaften untersucht. Der zweite Teil behandelt Tasans Kritik an der neokonfuzianischen Metaphysik und seine beiden Theorien über die Natur des Menschen und über die konfuzianische Humanität als Hauptanliegen (...) der Ethik des Menschen. Der dritte Teil schließlich erfasst Tasans Theorie des idealen Staates, nämlich seine Theorien über Politik, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft und Recht. (shrink)

The Hippocratism formulated the fundamental principles of medical action. It also includes the mental attitude of the doctor. The central point of medical postulate is the benefit to end suffering. The responsibility of the doctor contains the medical art as a foreground, and the ethical attitude of the physician as a background. The medical art is the purpose and the provision of medicine, and applies in all areas to sick people. The key points are the veneration of ethical values and (...) the full respect for the life of the individual. The Hippocratic values are based on the medical art and on the ethical attitude of the doctor and thus embody humanity. The transformation of high industrialized and pluralistic society led to changes in the basic ethical stance and the value awareness of thescientific world. The Biomedical sciences present the variety of ways using the freedom of research. The Biomedical technology and its applications, such as gene therapy, research on embryos and reproductive cloning, develop new ideas and their implementation for the people. The Biomedical sciences tend to Wertfreiheit. As a consequence the real output values of medicine are in question. At present, the Biomedical sciences are opposed to ethics because of their bold attempts in research. The consensus between medicine and ethics is a necessity, because ethics are a point of support of medicine. (shrink)

Practical Learning, Catholicism and classical Confucianism form the origin of Tasan Chŏng's philosophy in a uniform interrelation. The first part of this study discusses the development of Neo-Confucianism, its criticism, the development of the Practical Learning, the introduction of European sciences, the influence of Catholicism on the traditional Confucian society and its theoretical dispute. The second part deals with the Catholic influence on Tasan, the criticism of the Neo-Confucian metaphysics and his theories about the human nature and about the Confucian (...) humanity as main subjects of ethics, as well as the incompatibility between Catholicism and Confucian ethics for Tasan. In the third part, Tasan's theory of the ideal state is investigated, namely his theories on politics, society, economy and law. (shrink)