Employee reactions to workspace characteristics.

We investigated the independent and joint effects of four workspace characteristics (social density, room darkness, number of enclosures, and interpersonal distance) on three employee reactions: turnover, satisfaction, and withdrawal from the office during discretionary periods. A total of 109 clerical employees from 19 offices of a large university participated in the research. Results showed that the independent and joint effects of the workspace characteristics accounted for 24% of the variance in employee turnover, 31% of the variance in work satisfaction, and 34% of the variance in discretionary withdrawal. Moreover, the four-way interaction term involving the workspace characteristics contributed significantly to each of the reaction measures, suggesting that employees were most likely to withdraw from offices and to experience dissatisfaction when the following conditions were present: the office was rated as dark, few enclosures surrounded employees' work areas, employees were seated close to one another, and many employees occupied the office. The implications of the findings for future research on workspace design are discussed. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于虚拟样机的电动六自由度并联机器人结构参数设计

针对并联机器人在设计过程中的约束变量多、干涉情况复杂和设计周期长等问题,进行电动六自由度并联机器人结构参数设计与仿真的研究.以Stewart并联机器人为例,对并联机器人工作空间的两种求解方法进行了分析.首先利用几何法求解出其工作空间,然后提出一种基于虚拟样机技术求解其工作空间与承载能力的方法.这种方法利用Pro/E软件进行三维设计,将三维造型导入Adams软件中进行动态仿真.仿真结果表明,该方法在保证仿真结果可靠性的前提下,可避免烦琐的计算,缩短设计周期.      

Path curvature in workspace and in joint space: evidence for coexisting coordinative rules in aiming

In this study we tried to establish whether point-to-point aiming movements are planned in workspace, joint space, or both. Eight right-handed subjects performed horizontal, vertical, and diagonal aiming movements on a transversal plane. Movements were performed at several speeds. Curvature variations of the hand and corresponding joint-space paths were investigated as a function of position, direction, and speed. Straightness of hand paths predominated for vertical movements but was systematically violated for horizontal and top-right to bottom-left movements. Furthermore, the hand-path curvature of the latter movements increased with speed. Joint-space paths showed more deviation from a straight line than hand paths except for top-left to bottom-right movements in which the paths were equally curved. A comparison of normalized path curvatures at the hand and joint level indicated that in aiming, the coordinative rule of straight-line production seems to apply to both workspace and joint-space planning. The present findings confirm Kawato's (1996) views that optimization processes operate concurrently at the two control levels of arm-trajectory formation under study.     

A neuronal model of a global workspace in effortful cognitive tasks

A minimal hypothesis is proposed concerning the brain processes underlying effortful tasks. It distinguishes two main computational spaces: a unique global workspace composed of distributed and heavily interconnected neurons with long-range axons, and a set of specialized and modular perceptual, motor, memory, evaluative, and attentional processors. Workspace neurons are mobilized in effortful tasks for which the specialized processors do not suffice. They selectively mobilize or suppress, through descending connections, the contribution of specific processor neurons. In the course of task performance, workspace neurons become spontaneously coactivated, forming discrete though variable spatio-temporal patterns subject to modulation by vigilance signals and to selection by reward signals. A computer simulation of the Stroop task shows workspace activation to increase during acquisition of a novel task, effortful execution, and after errors. We outline predictions for spatio-temporal activation patterns during brain imaging, particularly about the contribution of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate to the workspace.     

Spontaneous repetitive thoughts can be adaptive: Postscript on “mind wandering”.

When researchers use the term mind wandering for task-unrelated thoughts in signal detection tasks, we may fall into the trap of believing that spontaneous thoughts are task unrelated in a deeper sense. Similar negative connotations are attached to common terms like cognitive failures, resting state, rumination, distraction, attentional failures, absent-mindedness, repetitiveness, mind lapses, going AWOL in the brain, cortical idling, and the like. Nevertheless, it seems obvious that mathematicians and scientists often engage in spontaneous repetitive thoughts and that the results of those thoughts are by no means maladaptive. Yet that seems to be implied by the standard use of common terms in the research literature. As humans, we know that spontaneous ideation goes on during all of our waking hours, during dreams and even in slow-wave sleep. It is unlikely that such a great allocation of mental resources has no useful adaptive function. This view of the spontaneous stream is consistent with the perspective of global workspace theory on conscious contents, which suggests that conscious events are not like unconscious cognitive representations. Rather, conscious events trigger widespread adaptive changes in the brain, far beyond their cortical origins. The brain evidence for such “global broadcasting” triggered by conscious (but not matched unconscious) events throughout the cortex is now quite compelling. Spontaneous conscious thoughts, even if they appear to be arbitrary, irrelevant, unwanted, or intrusive, may still play an important adaptive role in life-relevant problem solving and learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol use and type of life events experienced during adolescence.

Measured the incidence of stressful life events among 119 adolescents who had an alcohol abusing parent, were in treatment for alcohol/drug abuse, or had no personal or family history of alcohol abuse. Group scores were compared for 7 types of life events based on the Life Event Checklist (LEC) of M. D. Newcomb et al (see record 1982-20103-001). Adolescents in treatment experienced more deviance and emotional distress events whereas adolescents with an alcoholic parent reported significantly more family-related problems. Results provide evidence for the usefulness of the LEC in clinical populations of adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional properties of graphic workspace: assessment by means of a 3D geometric arm model

Computer simulations aimed at assessing functional characteristics of the graphic workspace are presented. The simulations involve a 10-df kinematic model of the distal part of the writing arm, and yield the effective workspace of the pen tip under two types of kinematic constraints. The first constraint involves fixing the forearm under various pronation angles, the second governs the protrusion of the pen tip from the finger tips. The effective workspace is analyzed in terms of the effort required to reach the various locations in it, where effort is defined in terms of the joint angles adopted by the wrist and fingers to reach each location. The simulation results show agreements between the distribution of required effort over the workspace and known stroke-direction preferences in drawing. Furthermore, they predict shifts in the biases that are thought to lead to these preferences as a function of both hand pronation and pen protrusion.     

可控源音频大地电磁法在寻找隐伏铝土矿中的应用

简单介绍了可控源音频大地电磁法(CSAMT)的工作原理及工作区的地质和地球物理特征,重点介绍了CSAMT法在荥阳地区寻找隐伏铝土矿中的应用。通过成都理工大学编写的MTSoft2D软件包的1D OCCAM反演结果为初始模型,进行多次2D非线性共轭梯度(NLCG)迭代,很好的压制了由于地表不均匀体造成的深层奥灰岩面失真的现象,较为准确地定位出奥陶系灰岩界面的起伏特征及埋藏深度,结合工作区铝土矿的成矿规律,对区内的铝土矿的空间赋存做出了较为准确的判断。     

Self as actor, active observer, and passive observer: Implications for causal attributions.

D. T. Miller et al (see record 1975-21040-001) distinguished between active observers (those on the receiving end of an actor's behavior) and passive observers (onlookers of an event involving an actor and an active observer). Following the concept of hedonic relevance, it was hypothesized that active observers would attribute the actor's behavior to personal dispositions of the actor more strongly than passive observers. In a series of hypothetical emotional events, 24 male undergraduates were depicted either as actors ("You like Ted"), active observers ("Ted likes you"), or passive observers ("Ted likes Paul"). They then rated the degree to which the actor, active observer, or some "other reason" had caused the given event. Although the actor–observer effect was obtained overall, an interaction between S role and positivity of verb indicated that it occurred much more strongly in negative-verb than positive-verb events. That is, Ss, either as actors or active observers, tended to deny their responsibility for negative events but did not claim praise for positive events. Implications for the effects of egotism on attribution are discussed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurements of directional hearing aid function

We conducted a comprehensive review of selected adverse event reports that were submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for interferon beta-1b during the first 30 months following licensure. The adverse events reviewed were injection site reactions, injection site necroses, and non-injection site necroses. These adverse events were selected because of the relative frequency of injection site reactions and because of the severity and sequelae of certain injection site and non-injection site necroses. Our review enabled us to characterize the clinical presentation and the treatment received, which were not described in the package insert or by the IFN beta (interferon beta-1b) Multiple Sclerosis Study Group publication. The time of onset of the adverse events ranged from 1-29 months after initiation of interferon beta-1b treatment, with a mean of 1 month. In general, the more clinically significant adverse events (i.e., injection site necrosis and non-injection site necrosis) developed more slowly than the injection site reactions. Greater than 85% of the adverse events presented with one or two signs/symptoms, although the number of signs/ symptoms ranged from 1-8. No predominance of treatments for the adverse events was observed. The most striking finding was that the overall sex ratio, which could be due to reporting artifacts, was 8.1:1 female:male.     

Events and subjective well-being: Only recent events matter: Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by E. Suh et al (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1996 [May], Vol 70 [5], 1091–1102). On page 1097, the headings for the second and third columns of Tables 4 and 5 were incorrectly labeled R–2 and R–2 change. The headings should read R and R change, respectively. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1996-01753-014.) The effect of life events on subjective well-being (SWB) was explored in a 2-year longitudinal study of 115 participants. It was found that only life events during the previous 3 months influenced life satisfaction and positive and negative affect. Although recent life events influenced SWB even when personality at Time 1 was controlled, distal life events did not correlate with SWB. SWB and life events both showed a substantial degree of temporal stability. It was also found that good and bad life events tend to covary, both between individuals and across periods of the lives of individuals. Also, when events of the opposite valence were controlled, events correlated more strongly with SWB. The counterintuitive finding that good and bad events co-occur suggests an exciting avenue for explorations of the structure of life events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Late myocardial ischemic events after saphenous vein graft intervention--importance of initially "nonsignificant" vein graft lesions

Patients undergoing percutaneous coronary revascularization (PCR) for narrowed saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) have a high incidence of subsequent cardiac events, but the relative contribution of treated and untreated SVGs, and of native coronary narrowings to late events is uncertain. This study evaluated the role of progression of SVG disease at untreated sites to cardiac events in these patients. All patients with successful PCR of SVG lesions who were enrolled in clinical trials with mandated repeat angiography from 1990 to 1994 were studied. One hundred three patients (age 63 +/- 8 years, 82% men, ejection fraction 54 +/- 12%, graft age 8 +/- 4 years), contributing 1,095 analyzable 15- to 25-mm SVG segments were followed 29 +/- 13 months (4 patients were lost to follow-up). Actuarial event-free (death, myocardial infarction, bypass surgery, or PCR) and overall survival at 12 months were 47 +/- 5% and 94 +/- 2%, respectively. Fifty-six percent of all early (< or = 12 months) events resulted from ischemia from recurrence at initially treated SVG sites, 26% at nontreated SVG sites, and 14% at nontreated native coronary sites. By 36 months, event-free and overall survival were 25 +/- 6% and 86 +/- 4%, respectively. Events occurring > 12 months after initial treatment resulted most frequently from ischemia from progression of narrowing at untreated SVG sites (46%). Ischemic events from initially untreated SVG sites were correlated with initial percent stenosis (initial, 41% to 50%; 45% events, 31% to 40%; 18% events, < or = 30%; 2% events, p <0.001) and reference SVG diameter (p = 0.003). Recurrent ischemic events from initially treated SVG sites were independently correlated with initial percent stenosis (initial > 75%; 43% events, 50% to 75%; 27% events, < 50%; 18% events, p = 0.01), but not with final percent stenosis. The frequent occurrence of events from nontreated 41% to 50% stenoses suggests a need for increased surveillance in patients with these lesions. The low incidence of events from initially treated lesions < 50% suggests that the hypothesis that "nonsignificant" 41% to 50% lesions might best be treated at the time other more severe narrowings are treated should be examined.     

Mood dependent memory for internal versus external events.

Events that originate through internal mental operations such as reasoning, imagination, and thought may be more colored by or connected to one's current mood than are those that emanate from external sources. If so, then a shift in mood state, between the occasions of event encoding and event retrieval, should have a greater adverse impact on one's memory for internal than for external events. To investigate this inference, a series of studies was conducted that relied on a continuous music technique to modify mood, and on the generate/read procedures devised by N. J. Slamecka and P. Graf (see record 1980-20399-001) to distinguish internal from external events. Considered collectively, the results suggest that internal events are less likely than external events to be recalled after a shift in mood state. Discussion centers on both the empirical limitations and theoretical implications of the present result, as well as on prospects for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of discrete emotions on young children's ability to discern fantasy and reality.

This study examined 3- to 5-year-olds' (N = 128; 54% girls) ability to discriminate emotional fantasy and reality. Children viewed images depicting fantastic or real events that elicited several emotions, reported whether each event could occur, and rated their emotional reaction to the image. Children were also administered the Play Behavior Questionnaire and Pretend Action Tasks to assess play behaviors. Findings revealed age-related improvements in performance and biases in judgment based on the emotion depicted. Children reported that happy fantastic events could occur significantly more often than frightening and angry fantastic events and that happy real events could occur significantly more often than frightening and angry real events. Children's emotional reactions to the images but not play behaviors were significantly related to their fantasy-reality distinctions. Implications for the relation between emotions and children's fantasy-reality distinctions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retention interval and intertrial interval in a serial learning or delayed discrimination task.

In 4 experiments, 58 male albino rats were provided with the same 3-event decreasing series (18-1-0) of food pellets in a runway to investigate tracking—running fast to 18 pellets and running slow to 1 and 0 pellets. Results show that when more than 1 daily trial was given, tracking was acquired more slowly and was disrupted by a shift in retention interval from 15 sec to 5 min. Tracking was also disrupted by a shift from 1 to 2 trials each day. Results indicate that when given 1 18-1-0 trial each day, Ss partitioned events on a 1st-event/subsequent-event basis, that little forgetting occurred even at long retention intervals, that somewhat different memories signaled events when 1 or more than 1 18-1-0 trial occurred each day, and that retention interval deficits could arise owing to the same or similar memories' signaling different events. Results limit the generality of 3 hypotheses suggested by H. L. Roitblat (see record 1983-09709-001) and by S. J. Haggbloom and M. W. Ekdahl (1985): that as retention interval increases, rats find it increasingly difficult to remember and utilize serial position cues; that tracking in serial tasks is not influenced by number of trials each day; and that there are specific stimuli associated with each retention interval that when changed, necessarily disrupt performance. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood reactivity to daily negative events in early adolescence: Relationship to risk for psychopathology.

Emotional responses to negative daily experiences in young adolescents may provide important clues to the development of psychopathology, but research is lacking. This study assessed momentary mood reactivity to daily events as a function of risk profile in a school sample, ages 11-14. High-risk (HR, n = 25) and low-risk (LR, n = 106) subgroups completed frequent self-reports of mood and events for 5 days. HR adolescents reported more negative events involving family and peers. Multilevel modeling results showed that negative events, especially if stressful, were associated with increased negative and decreased positive affects, with heightened responses in HR adolescents. HR adolescents with greater stress over the last 3 months showed additional increases in depressed mood following negative events. Altered reactivity to and dysfunctional appraisals of daily events may link adolescent risk profiles to later mental health problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

External support for collaborative problem solving in a simulated provider/patient medication scheduling task.

Taking medication requires developing plans to accomplish the activity. This planning challenges older adults because of age-related cognitive limits and inadequate collaboration with health providers. The authors investigated whether an external aid (medtable) supports collaborative planning in the context of a simulated patient/provider task in which pairs of older adults worked together to create medication schedules. Experiment 1 compared pairs who used the medtable, blank paper (unstructured aid), or no aid to create schedules varying in complexity of medication constraints (number of medications and medication co-occurrence restrictions) and patient constraints (available times during the day to take medication). Both aids increased problem-solving accuracy and efficiency (time per unit accuracy) compared to the no-aid condition, primarily for more complex schedules. However, benefits were similar for the two aids. In Experiment 2, a redesigned medtable increased problem-solving accuracy and efficiency compared to blank paper. Both aids presumably supported problem solving by providing a jointly visible workspace for developing schedules. The medtable may be more effective because it externalizes constraints (relationships between medication and patient information), so that participants can more easily organize information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When a coincidence is suspicious: The role of mental simulation.

Five studies examined D. Kahneman and A. Tversky's (see record 1986-21899-001) hypothesis that events become more "normal" and generate weaker reactions the more strongly they evoke representations of similar events. In each study, Ss were presented with 1 of 2 versions of a scenario that described the occurrence of an improbable event. The scenarios equated the a priori probability of the target event, but manipulated the ease of mentally simulating the event by varying the absolute number of similar events in the population. Depending on the study, Ss were asked to indicate whether they thought the event was due to chance as opposed to (a) an illegitimate action on the part of the benefited protagonist, or (b) the intentional or unintentional misrepresentation of the probability of the event. As predicted, the fewer ways the events could have occurred by chance, the less inclined Ss were to assume that the low-probability event occurred by chance. The implications of these findings for impression-management dynamics and stereotype revision are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pharmacotherapy of silent myocardial ischemia in patients on hemodialysis

There is some evidence in Poland, that percent of hospitalized coronary heart disease events with no typical pain for myocardial infarction (MI) increased. The purpose of the paper was to assess in the observational study whether the lack of typical pain in MI effects the risk of death in the acute phase. There were 1815 events, registered in POL-MONICA Kraków Project, with clinical diagnosis of MI or acute coronary heart disease, which were classified as "definite MI" or "possible MI" according to the criteria of The WHO MONICA Project, which were included to the analysis. Typical pain occurred in 1693 (93%) events and atypical symptoms in 122 (7%) events. Shock and left ventricular failure (LVF) were observed more frequently in patients with atypical symptoms who also were treated more frequently with diuretics, inotropic agents, antiarrythmics and more frequently received thrombolytic treatment. Patients with atypical symptoms had higher risk of death. Relative risk was 3.65 (95% confidence interval: 2.45-5.44). After adjustment for age, sex, shock, LVF and diabetes relative risk decreased to 1.67 (95% confidence interval: 1.10-2.54) and after inclusion of treatment to the analysis relative risk decreased to 1.58 (95% confidence interval: 1.04-2.39). The results suggest that lack of typical pain in MI can be related to worse prognosis and it should lead to more careful consideration of the treatment.