Younger and older adults' memory of past feelings surrounding an election.

People often misremember their past feelings, especially when recalling their prior mood as opposed to their specific emotions in response to events. A previous study also found that the direction of memory errors varies based on feeling type; younger adults overestimated the intensity of prior moods but underestimated the intensity of prior event-specific emotions. This study aimed to replicate these patterns and test whether they vary with age. In doing so, we also tested whether an age-related positivity effect would emerge, such that older adults would be relatively more likely to overestimate past positive feelings and underestimate past negative feelings. Using a sample of American voters, who reported their feelings following the 2020 United States presidential election, we found that both younger and older adults subsequently overestimated the intensity of their past mood in the week following the election but were relatively accurate in recalling the intensity of their prior emotions about the election result. Unexpectedly, among election losers, we also observed an age-related negativity effect in recall for prior mood. When faced with negative real-world events, older adults may not show the same positivity biases that are observed in lab studies.

Exploring Anki Usage Among First-Year Medical Students During an Anatomy & Physiology Course: A Pilot Study.

Objectives: As medical schools worldwide condense the preclinical phase of medical education, it is increasingly important to identify resources that help medical students retain and employ the medical information. One popular tool among medical students is an application called Anki, a free and open-source flashcard program utilizing spaced repetition for quick and durable memorization. The purpose of this study is to determine how variable Anki usage among first-year medical students throughout a standardized anatomy and physiology course correlates with performance. Methods: We designed a novel Anki add-on called "Anki Stat Scraper" to collect data on first-year medical students at Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine during their 8-week anatomy and physiology course. Anki users (N = 45) were separated into four groups: Heavy (N = 5), intermediate (N = 5), light (N = 16), and limited-Anki (N = 19) users, based on the time each student spent on the flashcard app, how many flashcards they studied per day, and how many days they used the app prior to their anatomy and physiology exam. A 14-question Likert scale questionnaire was administered to each participant to gauge their understanding of Anki and how they used the app to study. Results: Heavy and intermediate Anki users had higher average exam scores than their counterparts who did not use Anki as a study method. Average exam scores were 90.34%, 91.74%, 85.86%, and 87.75% for heavy, intermediate, light, and limited-Anki users respectively (p > 0.05). Our survey demonstrated that Anki users spent an average of 73.86% of their study time using Anki, compared to an average of 36.53% for limited-Anki users (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Anki users did not score significantly higher compared to limited-Anki users. However, survey responses from students believe that Anki may still be a useful educational tool for future medical students.

Unkinking The Kinked: A Rare Intussusception In The Paediatric Emergency Department.

Intussusception is the introversion of the proximal intestinal loop into the distal downstream part of the intestinal loop, leading to gut wall oedema and restriction of blood supply. A high index of suspicion is required to diagnose it timely. Mostly infants aged less than a year are vulnerable to this surgical emergency presenting mostly with abdominal distension, vomiting, reluctance to feed and bright red jelly-like stools which, if left unrecognised, may result in the development of ischaemic portion of the gut and catastrophic outcomes. We present the case of a 60-day-old baby who presented in the Paediatric Emergency Department with progressive abdominal distension and bloody stools. Abdominal X-ray showed dilated bowel and ultrasound imaging showed a target sign positive for intussusception. The baby was rushed to the operating room (OR) due to delayed presentation, where an uneventful exploratory laparotomy was performed. Acute intestinal intussusception remains a cause of low morbidity and mortality rates if recognised earlier.

Age differences in affective forecasting accuracy.

Affective forecasts are people's predictions of their future feelings in response to future events. In this study, we examined whether younger and older adults differ in their affective forecasting accuracy. To do so, we recruited younger and older American voters and asked them to predict how they would feel following the 2020 U.S. presidential election. In the general feelings condition, participants predicted how they would feel, in general, following an election victory or loss. In the event-related feelings condition, participants predicted their future feelings specifically about an election victory and about an election loss. Later, these same participants reported their experienced feelings (either in general or about the election outcome). In the general feelings condition, age differences in affective forecasting accuracy varied as a function of whether participants' preferred candidate won or lost the election. Among election victors, there were age-related improvements in affective forecasting accuracy of negative feelings. In contrast, among election losers there were age-related declines in affective forecasting accuracy of both negative and positive feelings. A different pattern emerged for participants in the event-related feelings condition. These participants were highly accurate in their affective forecasts, and there were minimal age differences in forecasting accuracy. Together, these results show that age differences in affective forecasting accuracy depend upon both the type of future event, and the type of future feeling being predicted. When considered together, these results also suggest that the focusing illusion plays a key role in modulating age differences in affective forecasting accuracy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

College competitiveness and medical school exam performance.

BACKGROUND: In medical school, students are tested through periodic USMLE Step 1 and 2 examinations before obtaining a medical license. Traditional predictors of medical school performance include MCAT scores, undergraduate grades, and undergraduate institutional selectivity. Prior studies indicate that admissions committees might unfairly discriminate against applicants who graduated from less competitive universities. However, there is limited literature to determine whether those who attended competitive colleges perform better on USMLE Step 1 and 2 examinations. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study is to determine if students who attended competitive undergraduate colleges outperform those who did not on medical school benchmarks. METHODS: We defined a Competitive College as having greater than 10% of its student body scoring 1400 or higher (on a 1600 scale) on the SAT. If this criteria was not met, colleges would be categorized as Non-Competitive. Descriptive statistics and unpaired t-tests were calculated to analyze average test scores on the MCAT, Phase 1 NBME, USMLE Step 1, Phase 2 NBME, and USMLE Step 2. RESULTS: Our findings suggest there are no statistically significant differences between students who do or do not attend competitive undergraduate colleges on these medical school benchmark examinations following the MCAT. CONCLUSION: Admissions committees should use this data to aid in their student selection as our research indicates that institutional selectivity accurately predicts MCAT scores, but not performance on standardized medical school examinations once admitted.