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Lawmakers who can supply themself with information to manage complex problems are at an advantage, but equally important is the filtering and contextualizing of applicable information. Members of Congress manage a deluge of policy and political information, and this short paper examines one strategy members of Congress use to mitigate that burden—by investing in reference material and news media to filter and summarize the policymaking environment. Using congressional disbursement data from the 116th and 117th Congress, I explain how institutional experience is associated with an office's choice to invest in more information filtering. Freshman members of the House are more likely to turn to news media or publications to provide insight into the congressional agenda, offer political context, and prioritize issues of importance. Reference investment is not tied to partisanship, ideology, lawmaking capacity, or previous office, but those junior offices who need to get up to lawmaking speed invest in external information filtering. These results illuminate how central institutional knowledge is to lawmaking in Congress, and how much an office is willing to invest to mitigate that weakness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on factors influencing information credibility judgment is increasing, whereas their findings are mixed. This study conducted a meta-analysis of 85 empirical studies, synthesizing the effects of 12 frequently examined source, content, channel, and receiver factors on information credibility perception. Results reveal that message quality, source credibility, and message fluency have large correlations with credibility perception, while other factors show small-to-medium correlations. Personal topic knowledge does not have a significant relationship with credibility perception. Gender composition, information channel, topic, and research method significantly moderate the aggregated relationships. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A partir de una Metodología exploratoria con enfoque analítico cuantitativo de los registros estadísticos de las conductas punibles registradas en el Sistema de Información Estadístico Delictivo y Contravencional de la Policía Nacional de Colombia – SIEDCO, este artículo de reflexión tiene como objetivo demostrar la asimilación de los delitos informáticos tipificados por el legislador con los delitos de impacto, para demostrar que los tipos penales de carácter informático requieren un tratamiento diferencial, mayor conocimiento y estrategias tendientes a mejorar las medidas de prevención y autoprotección de la sociedad. Lo anterior considerando que el delito, es sin duda, uno de los fenómenos que más afecta a la sociedad en general y con frecuencia, las autoridades político-administrativas, policiales y expertos en seguridad ciudadana, suelen considerar de mayor importancia al homicidio, secuestro, lesiones personales, violaciones y hurto, los cuales se han catalogado comúnmente como delitos de impacto. Para concluir el estudio logra demostrar que los delitos informáticos no han tenido la misma trascendencia, a pesar de que últimamente y en forma reiterada los medios de comunicación registran noticias relacionadas con el incremento de este fenómeno criminógeno.

Bureaucrats are frequently conceptualized as agents of Congress, with much focus placed on their expertise as policy implementers or evaluators. That same expertise, though, allows bureaucrats to supply Congress with information throughout the policy process. Bureaucrats are just one of the many actors that compete to supply Congress with information to define problems and develop solutions. Congressional committees must prioritize all available information, deciding what to attend and what to ignore. I argue that bureaucrats are more likely to testify at hearings when there is (1) limited availability of alternative information sources, (2) the information they hold is necessary for achieving committee goals or tasks (ex. agency oversight), and (3) the information they have can alleviate diverse committee workloads. Using a new dataset of witnesses testifying at congressional committee hearings, I find that the prioritization of bureaucrats as witnesses is explainable in terms of policy area, committee type, and committee agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the technological development in the historical discipline over time, focusing on the organization of archives and information processing. The author uses her own research on Jewish history in Mexico to demonstrate the usefulness of digital tools and digital humanities in historical research. In addition, the impact of Mexico's vote in favor of the UN resolution condemning Zionism is examined, including the demonstrations and tourist boycott that occurred in the United States. This episode had a significant effect on the relationship between the Jewish community and the government in Mexico. The text presents the experience of a historian in their research and the use of technological resources to gather and process information. The author highlights the importance of managing and classifying archives, as well as accessing online sources of information. It also mentions the evolution of historical research methods over time, from the use of cards and index cards to the development of more sophisticated card cabinets and classification systems. The article emphasizes the influence of these methods on the final outcome of historical research. The article discusses the use of index cards as a tool for organizing information in historical research. It is mentioned that Carl Linnaeus invented index cards in the 1760s and that they were used by naturalists, bibliographers, and historians. The archivist Daunou was one of the first to use index cards in archives, seeking to impose uniformity in the collected information. Although there were disadvantages to this method, such as a lack of progress in understanding historical facts, his methods laid the foundations for modern Western history. Despite some historians' reluctance to use digital technology, tools such as word processors are widely used. A study shows that although there have been changes in research practices, there is still a limitation in the use of digital tools to open new areas of research. The article analyzes the adoption of digital tools by historians. According to a survey, the majority of historians use library-backed databases, online archives, and digital cameras. However, there is a lack of adoption of other types of software and tools. Resistance to adopting new technologies is due to a lack of institutional support, the reluctance of more experienced historians, and a perceived lack of usefulness. Lack of time to learn new technologies is also an obstacle. The article highlights the importance of primary and secondary sources available online and how digital tools facilitate the handling of collected information. The article discusses the importance of using digital tools in historical research. The author mentions using Google Translate to translate communications from Ambassador Jova and other members of the US Foreign Service. It also highlights the usefulness of searching for newspaper sources online and warns about the need to be cautious of false information online. The author mentions the SuperNotecard program as an effective tool for organizing and transcribing information virtually. Additionally, other options such as Zotero, DEVONthink, and OneNote are mentioned. The use of digital cards allows for efficient manipulation and organization of information. The author highlights the ease of access to online archives and the ability to accumulate a large amount of data. The portability of the digital file is also mentioned as an advantage. The author concludes that there is no correct way to use these tools and that it is possible to combine digital and paper systems according to the needs of each project. The article discusses the importance of using digital tools in historical research. Different programs and platforms are mentioned, such as SuperNotecard, DEVONthink, OneNote, and Zotero, which can help historians manage sources and organize citations. The need to take precautions when working with digital files, such as making backups, is also highlighted. [Extracted from the article]

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental disorder, which is associated with emotional and cognitive functioning problems. Psychological interventions, such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (tf-CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) are effective in reducing PTSD symptoms. Despite evidence showing that PTSD is associated with neurocognitive deficits, there is no systematic overview available on neurocognitive outcomes following treatment for PTSD. The current systematic review examined whether psychological treatments for PTSD improve neurocognitive functioning outcomes related to memory, attention, information processing, and executive functioning. A literature search in PubMed, PsycINFO, PTSDpubs, and Cochrane Library was performed up to March 7, 2022, in collaboration with a medical information specialist. Eligible PTSD treatment studies examining neurocognitive outcomes (memory, attention, information processing and executive function) in patients with a DSM-IV or ICD diagnosis of PTSD were included. Of the 3023 titles and abstracts identified, 9 articles met inclusion criteria, of which 5 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 4 non-randomized studies. Treatments included were cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), cognitive processing therapy (CPT), brief eclectic psychotherapy (BEP), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), virtual reality graded exposure therapy (VR-GET), and resilience-oriented treatment (ROT). This systematic review showed that psychological treatments for PTSD do not affect most neurocognitive functions, with exception of the memory outcomes. Future research, high-quality studies are needed to provide evidence of the effect of psychological treatment in improving neurocognitive functioning in PTSD. This systematic review investigated the effects of psychological treatments on neurocognitive functioning in adults with PTSD. This review showed that most studies were very heterogeneous in design, method, and analysis. This review supports the evidence for psychological treatments for PTSD on improving memory outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following article addresses the topic of phenomenography as an educational research method. The main objective is to develop a methodological proposal to perform phenomenographic research in the field of education, mainly. This work offers a general view of the theoretical aspects of phenomenography. Its interest, however, is focused on offering the methodological guidelines to address educational research from a phenomenographic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy learning is an important concept in the study of policymaking, yet it is difficult to model and empirically estimate. Additionally, work on policy learning has not fully drawn from the work on information processing in the policy process. In this paper, I propose a model of policy learning that incorporates the Advocacy Coalition Framework's notion of policy‐oriented learning and the theory of disproportionate information processing within a Bayesian learning framework. Policy learning through Bayesian updating occurs as individuals adjust their prior beliefs in light of new information, and in the approach posited here, learning is a function of the strength of prior beliefs and the weight given to new information. Additionally, learning is thought to occur only when subsequent beliefs move in the direction of the information. Then, I demonstrate the policy learning model using public opinion data about Yucca Mountain, a proposed repository site for nuclear waste. Finally, I conclude with suggesting ways in which the policy learning model can be incorporated into current policy learning theories and frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uexküll propone la existencia de una ley funcional de acuerdo con la cual las células en los organismos y estos, en el sistema global de la naturaleza, se articulan entre sí mediante hilos invisibles dados por la significación. Esta ley, conformidad a plan -lcp- (Planmäßigkeit), riñe con la visión de un mundo mecánico compuesto por unidades independientes que se mueven impulsadas por fuerzas externas. Comenzaré por mostrar como Uexküll naturaliza al sujeto kantiano, mostrando que las categorías de espacio tiempo que posibilitan el conocimiento, se deben a la estructura organizacional del ser vivo, la cual exige además la inclusión de los a priori de contenido como escalas cromáticas, tonales, táctiles, olfativas, etcétera. Tesis que coloca al cuerpo del sujeto en el centro de un espacio perceptivo y operativo descrito mediante los círculos funcionales (cf). Pero, además, Uexküll postula una lcp que asegura una correspondencia armoniosa entre los distintos medioambientes experimentados por la gran diversidad de sujetos encerrados dentro de la lógica de su cf. Mostraré que la noción de círculos funcionales (cf) de percepción (p) y acción (a) puede ser interpretada como procesamientos de información. Las percepciones serán consideradas como las entradas (inputs) dependientes de los órganos de los sentidos, y las respuestas (outputs) como ajustes y acciones, dependientes del plan corporal del organismo que media entre ellas de acuerdo con el significado (semántica) y valor de uso de la información (pragmática). El medio ambiente experimentado (Umwelt) es análogo a la interfaz entre el sujeto y el medio externo que permite operar acertadamente, proporcionando una perspectiva incompleta y parcial de la realidad objetiva. De esta manera, el cuerpo organizado del sujeto en cuanto usuario y creador de información, correlaciona inputs y outputs, encaja contrapuntísticamente con otros en la gran “composición musical” de la naturaleza. Así mismo, mostraré como la lcp permitió concebir el papel de los genes y del protoplasma dentro de un esquema en el que la información epigenética coordina y regula la expresión de la información genética. Por último, mostraré como esta visión sustenta a un holismo monista neutral donde mente y materia se funden en un proceso dinámico y cambiante, en el que los diversos agentes generan una red interactiva en conformidad a leyes funcionales no mecánicas. Para terminar, sugiero que esta interpretación informacional aproxima las visiones biológicas y físicas que Uexküll consideraba como antagónicas.