When managers decide not to decide autocratically: An investigation of leader–member exchange and decision influence.

Examined the antecedents of decision influence in 58 male-dominated managerial dyads. Data were collected from a large US manufacturing organization, and leader-member exchange (LMX) and decision influence were measured from both subordinate and superior points of view. Results indicate that important antecedents of decision influence are the quality of LMX and the subordinate's performance level. It was found that superiors show a noncompensatory model regarding decision influence: The subordinate must possess high performance and exchange skills. In contrast, subordinates show a compensatory model in which higher performance can compensate for lower LMXs. This research replicates and extends the results of M. Wakabayashi and G. Graen's (see record 1985-10982-001) study on the interaction pattern of LMX and subordinate performance on career outcomes for Japanese work organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschooler's ability to decide whether a photographed unfamiliar object can move itself.

Does the preschooler's use of the animate–inanimate distinction reflect knowledge about which category types engage in self-initiated movements? Three- and 4-year-olds viewed photographs of unfamiliar objects, including mammalian animals, nonmammalian animals, statues with animal-like forms and parts, wheeled vehicles, and multipart rigid objects, and decided whether each item could go up and down a hill by itself. Four-year-olds were reliably accurate about the movement potentials for each of the five classes of items; 3-year-olds' scores were significantly above chance in all but one category. Analyses of rule use and verbalization data showed that children were concerned about cause of movement and used an animate–inanimate hierarchy. Explanations from both age groups varied, in a consistent manner, the kind of information and criteria used to make inferences as function of the type of item. We discuss how these data bear on a theory of concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restraint-free care: how does a nurse decide?

Decisions by nurses to avoid physical restraint use in older adults is a complex process that requires individualized, comprehensive assessment and creative problem-solving. Institutional and social policy increasingly support a standard of restraint elimination influencing care decisions with frail older adults. It has become clear that the decision to avoid or use physical restraint is influenced as well by nurses' attitude or beliefs about the efficacy of restraint. To further understand how decisions are made to avoid physical restraint, it is important to also explore the degree to which nurses possess knowledge, autonomy, and accountability in this decision-making process. Understanding how decisions are influenced will advance the development of restraint-free care interventions for older adults.     

Is it time for national advertising? You decide

Central hemodynamics was studied in 53 patients divided into 3 groups who had transurethral resection of the prostate under epidural anesthesia. Patients with uneventful course of surgery (group 1) had favourable rearrangement of hemodynamic parameters in response to epidural anesthesia. In patients of group 2 hemodynamics was characterized by addition of negative effects of relative hypovolemia. A significant fall of central venous pressure was found in group 3. This low venous pressure resulted from the epidural block and contributed much to development of hyponatremia in these patients.     

Do costs decide? Disposable or reusable instruments in laparoscopic cholecystectomy?

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy requires new and specially designed instruments. Both, disposable and reusable instruments are available and frequently used. The purpose of this analysis was to compare these instruments with regard to safety and costs. A complete and detailed calculation comprising all cost components was performed using data from 534 patients. Safety of the procedure was assessed by the documentation of all events during and after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 1000 consecutive patients. Costs: A standard operation with reusable instruments costs DM 3395. One third of these costs are non-hospital costs. Every postoperative day in hospital adds DM 234.44, every minute of operation time adds DM 4.88. Using a complete of disposable instruments causes an increase in total costs of DM 1117, which mainly results from the costs of the instruments themselves. Safety: Among 1000 operations all performed with reusable instruments, 82.3% were uneventful for the patient. The wound infection rate was 2.3%. Until today no injuries of the staff caused by these instruments were observed. These findings demonstrate that reusable instruments are safe and cost-effective.     

Making choices in hospital resources allocation. The use of an assessment tool to decide which new projects are financed

This paper reviews the use of in vitro and in vivo antimutagenicity studies that determined the role of plant peroxidases in the activation of arylamine promutagens. New information presented here suggests a model in which tobacco cell peroxidases exuded into the culture medium undergo a maturation process affecting their capacity to activate arylamine promutagens. Tobacco cell peroxidases are present in medium recovered from stationary phase cells and are associated with a fraction that sediments at 12000 x g. These peroxidases have a greater capacity to activate arylamines than do peroxidases present in the supernatant fluid. These data suggest that the plant activation of arylamines into products that are mutagenic in Salmonella typhimurium may be intimately involved in the process of lignification.     

Seeking help in the shadow of doubt: The sensemaking processes underlying how nurses decide whom to ask for advice.

Although scholars often assume that individuals seek out experts when they need help, recent research suggests that seeking help from experts can be costly. The authors propose that perceiving potential help providers as accessible or trustworthy can reduce the costs of seeking help and thus encourage individuals to seek help from experts. They further predict that perceptions of potential help providers’ expertise, accessibility, and trustworthiness are shaped by their experience, formal roles, and organizational commitment. They investigated their theoretical model in a study of 146 nurses on the front lines of healthcare. They found that the decision to seek out help depends on help-seekers’ perceptions of experts’ accessibility and trustworthiness, and that these perceptions are predicted by experience, formal roles, and affective organizational commitment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can we decide between logical positivism and social construction views of reality?

Comments on the article by R. Madigan et al (see record 1995-31466-001) detailing the sometimes subtle differences between APA style and other forms of advanced writing. The author states that Madigan et al's article gives a very accurate historical and contemporary portrait of the centrality of writing style to the development of psychology as a science and as a profession. However, some of the conclusions could have been strengthened considerably while still adhering to the "hedged conclusions" approach necessitated by APA style and described in their article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Situated na?ve physics: Task constraints decide what children know about density.

Children's understanding of density is riddled with misconceptions—or so it seems. Yet even preschoolers at times appear to understand density. This article seeks to reconcile these conflicting outcomes by investigating the nature of constraints available in different experimental protocols. Protocols that report misconceptions about density used stimulus arrangements that make differences in mass and volume more salient than differences in density. In contrast, protocols that report successful performance used stimulus arrangements that might have increased the salience of density. To test this hypothesis, the present experiments manipulate the salience of object density. Children between 2 and 9 years of age and adults responded whether an object would sink or float when placed in water. Results indicated that children's performance on exactly the same objects differed as a function of the saliency of the dimension of density, relative to the dimensions of mass and volume. These results support the idea that constraints—rather than stable knowledge—drive performance, with implications for teaching children about nonobvious concepts such as density. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)