This chapter introduces the key concepts and major theoretical accounts of cognitive control (e.g., conflict monitoring, the expected value of control) that seek to answer fundamental questions about the control mechanisms, the recruitment of control resources, the selection of task-relevant processes, and the prevention of interference. Although some of the theories focus more on the regulatory processes, while others on the evaluative mechanisms, most of them complement each other. Essential questions, such as the sources of capacity limitations, the continuum between control and automaticity, cognitive flexibility as a marker, the effects of contextual changes, and individual differences in both behavioral performance and neural activity are critically discussed throughout the chapter. The most widely used behavioral paradigms and their outcome measures (e.g., congruency effects, intrusion cost, switching cost, practice effects, post-error slowing and post-error reduction of interference) are presented and linked to different conceptual constructs.

This chapter presents a brief theoretical overview of intelligence, cognition, and expertise and their theoretical basis for use in the subsequent chapters. It introduces the main models of intelligence including trait and factorial models, the triarchic mind, and multiple intelligence theories. It then reviews the approach of cognitive psychology based upon early computer modelling of human cognition, schemas and frames, production systems, and episodic and semantic memory. Finally, it reviews expert systems, expert knowledge acquisition and retrieval, practice, transfer of skill, flexibility of knowledge retrieval, and how all of these factors influence the ability of an individual to make transitions in their careers.

Most intelligence models include an array of processes and mechanisms that enable experts to generalize their knowledge and processes during career transitions and produce flexibility in cognitive structures that enable individuals to overcome limitations in applying expert knowledge and processes across domains and functional areas. These processes have been described variously as insightful thinking, induction, eduction, elaborating and mapping, novelty and metaphorical capacity, inductive inference, divergent production abilities, analogy, flexibility of use, and closure. They are discussed in light of the retrospective interviews with twenty-four elite performers in three domains (business, sports, and music) who successfully and repeatedly transitioned to higher positions within their field.

Research has shown that taking a break, or an "incubation interval," can facilitate creative problem solving. One interpretation of this phenomenon is that it allows for task-switching and attentional flexibility, which can improve creative performance. Task-switching may allow individuals to break their mental set and identify solutions that were previously unavailable. It may also encourage the alternation between idea generation and evaluation, leading to attentional flexibility. This chapter discusses the evidence for the benefits of attentional flexibility and its relationship to mind-wandering, and presents a new study on the potential sources of benefit for task-switching on creativity.

Spatial governance in Kenyan cities has been practised in a manner that is exclusionary and that denies certain groups access to resources and opportunities. In Nairobi, land tenure has been used to craft an exclusionary idea of urban citizenship. Eligibility to participate in spatial governance has been made conditional on having formally recognised interests in land. Marginalised groups have in turn deployed a range of measures to contest power and counter exclusion. They have resisted persistent attempts at their erasure from the cityscape by carrying out acts of transgression within a context now underwritten by a transformative constitutional framework. Within the Mukuru informal settlements, transgressive and legal strategies are toolboxes from which inhabitants draw a plethora of tools to confront exclusionary spatial governance practices. This chapter examines how, in using these strategies, the inhabitants deploy their democratic imaginations to test their understandings of urban citizenship and expand its realms. In doing this, the inhabitants reimagine urban planning in a form that is more inclusive and that attends to the realities within their spaces.

Crisis research focuses primarily on how response structures should be organized. There are ongoing debates about the required degree of flexibility in the response structure and what role emergent groups should have. A shared assumption in this research is that organization and structure are synonymous with order in a crisis and enable a rapid, coordinated response. Disorganization, by extension, is criticized for crisis response failures. This view ignores the risk of over-organization and crisis response rigidity. In uncertain crises, disorganizing might produce a looser, less ordered structure that facilitates a novel, adaptive response. The dilemma for frontline responders revolves around the need for both organizing and disorganizing during crises. It is worthwhile noting that different types and phases of the crisis demand different forms of reorganizing. The reorganizing process, through disorganizing and organizing, needs to be ongoing throughout the duration of the crisis situation to ensure that crisis demands and organizational response structures evolve synchronously.

Planned actions, as prescribed in protocols and trained in exercises, help frontline responders take action under enormous pressure. Yet, these same actions are often hard, if not impossible, to implement during crises, either because the specific situation was not anticipated and there are no plans in place or because prepared plans do not produce the desired results. As a consequence, frontline responders will need to improvise and adapt their activities to crisis situations. Yet, improvisation under extreme stress is very difficult and may be inefficient or even dangerous to responders. The resulting dilemma for responders is how to choose the right course of action. This requires a view of both action patterns as complementary and even mutually conducive, as most crises will demand a combination of plans and improvisation. Reflective acting helps frontline responders to find the right balance and define adequate response activities.

We know from decades of research that a key component of stress resilience is being flexible in how we think and how we manage our emotions. We profile individuals who showed exceptional flexibility, including Jerry White, who lost his leg to a landmine. We discuss two psychotherapies that teach flexibility: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). You will learn evidence-based ways to embrace gratitude and humor, catch and challenge negative thoughts, and work towards accepting situations that you cannot immediately control.

The legitimacy crisis of ISDS in Europe has prompted the EU – an emerging actor in international investment law – to reform this field. In particular, the EU reform was designed to enhance the rule of law in international investment law, as a means of legitimising the field. However, the reform of international investment law has ultimately exposed the clash of different visions of the rule of law in international law and the multifaceted nature of this concept. The purpose of this book was to evaluate the EU’s vision and its contribution to the development of international law in the field of investment. In particular, the book sought to assess whether the EU reform addresses the key international investment law problems and in doing so contributes to the achievement of the rule of law and legitimacy. To answer this question, a substantial analysis was undertaken of EU investment law and policy in both its internal dimension (Part II) and external relations (Part III), and placed in the broader context of international investment law and its reform (Part I). As many scholars have written about international investment law, what value does this book add? The following observations encapsulate the findings of this research and attest to its relevance and contribution to the international investment law reform debate.

Chapter 16 opens by asking readers to identify the elements in their developing demonstrations that are in good shape and those that still need work. The chapter organizes such elements by analogy to a three-legged stool: One leg is a demonstration’s materials; another is a comprehensive plan; the third is the person doing the demonstration. Discussion of materials emphasizes practical considerations such as visual or manipulable items that are exciting, portability, backups, links to core points, and even duct tape. Discussion of plans emphasizes clarity on the demonstration’s goals, knowing how to use the materials, and having a stock of juicy questions; detailed plans make it easier to be flexible in the face of surprises. Discussion of the person emphasizes how people are crucial to cooperative conversations, how they make the materials more interesting and more entertaining, how their questions guide other people’s learning, and how they represent their fields. This chapter’s Closing Worksheet asks readers to write demonstration guidelines modeled in the Worked Example about a demonstration using dinosaurs to compare human language to other forms of communication.

Older people often come into their evaluation discouraged by a poor prognosis from a physician or imaging that reveals more wear and tear on their bodies than they feel they can overcome. There is a tendency to discount the likelihood that progress can be made in older patients. But that is generally not the case! There are strategies for pain management and home exercises to work on strength, flexibility or mobility that allows them to transition from feeling like a victim, betrayed by their body, to a person empowered to halt these unwanted changes. X-rays and MRI’s that show degenerative changes don’t account for pain that is caused by inflexibility and strength deficits or poor movement patterns. These are things which can be addressed and corrected with physical therapy. Correcting a patient’s biomechanics can take the burden off arthritic joints and facilitate pain free movement. Physical therapy can facilitate meaningful gains by addressing musculoskeletal impairments. It can correct biomechanical faults , lead to decreased pain, and allow for safe return to many desired hobbies and improve quality of life.