Accuracy of interpersonal perception: A general trait?

After viewing filmed interviews, judges made predictions in regard to behavior which would be subsequent to certain stated conditions, personality traits, how an opinion might be expressed by the observed S, and how the observed S might complete certain sentences. A general ability to perceive others accurately was isolated, and seen to be related to the factor of "sensitivity to the generalized other" and "interpersonal sensitivity." The relationship to related empirical and theoretical work is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bridge employment and retirees’ health: A longitudinal investigation.

The present study examined the relationship between bridge employment and retirees’ health outcomes (i.e., major diseases, functional limitations, and mental health). We used a nationally representative sample of 12,189 retirees from the first 4 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that compared with full retirement, engaging in bridge employment either in a career field or in a different field was associated with fewer major diseases and functional limitations, whereas engaging in career bridge employment was associated with better mental health. The findings highlight the health benefits of engaging in bridge employment for retirees. The practical implications of this study are discussed at both the individual and policy levels. Limitations of the current findings are also noted in conjunction with future research directions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of pain in spinal cord injury: A case–control study.

Objective: To examine the impact of pain on functioning across multiple quality of life QOL) domains among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: A case–control design that matched 2 groups (i.e., extreme pain interference and no pain interference) case for case on age (i.e., within 10 years), education, gender, race, marital status, primary occupation, and impairment level. Etiology of SCI and injury duration, although not specifically matched, were the same in 84% and 91% of the cases, respectively. Participants: Individuals with traumatic-onset SCI from the National Spinal Cord Injury database (n?=?86 matched pairs). Outcome Measures: Satisfaction With Life Scale, Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique, and Short Form SF-12. Results: The extreme pain interference group reported a significantly lower overall QOL and had higher total handicap scores than the no pain interference group. Areas of handicap most influenced by pain were mobility, social integration, and economic self-sufficiency. The extreme pain interference group also reported significantly lower physical and mental health than the no pain interference group. Conclusions: Pain has a consistent detrimental impact on functioning across multiple QOL domains even after controlling for multiple demographic and medical characteristics known to be associated with self-reported QOL. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A general mathematical description of hydrogen diffusion in steels—II. Numerical study of permeation and determination of trapping parameters

The model described in the first part of this paper is applied to the numerical study of permeation. We first study the case of linear diffusion equations, with one type of traps (two types of sites) and two types of traps (three types of sites). Next non-linear phenomena (trap saturation and trap growth) are introduced. The results are summarized in a general classification of anomalous permeation behaviours according to the number of types of traps, their saturable or not saturable character, etc. This should allow experimenters to obtain easily qualitative information about these factors. Finally we propose a simplified diffusion model to be used in practise, and give a summary of methods for quantitative determination of the relevant parameters.     

Predicting expressed emotion: A study with families of obsessive–compulsive and agoraphobic outpatients.

The authors used structural equation modeling to examine expressed emotion (EE) in relatives of outpatients with panic disorder with agoraphobia (n?=?42) or obsessive–compulsive disorder (n?=?60). EE was examined as a function of patients' illness and personality and as a function of characteristics of relatives themselves. EE was operationalized in terms of hostility on the Camberwell Family Interview (C. E. Vaughn & J. P. Leff, 1976) and patients' ratings of their relatives' criticism (perceived criticism). Key findings include the identification of a characteristic of the relative (self-reported angry thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) that is directly linked to both hostility toward the patient and to perceived criticism, as well as a direct path between relatives' low rates of observed problem solving and their hostility toward the patient. Patient Pathology predicted perceived criticism but not observer-rated hostility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A general method of habit plane determination in bainitic steels—II. Habit plane determination of the bainite

A new method is given for the determination of the bainite habit plane in specimens of a 35NiCr18 steel. The transformation of this steel is complete on cooling to room temperature. That is, no austenite is retained in the structure. Therefore, the new method is based on the orientation determination of the austenite prior to the bainite transformation using non-parallel {111} twin intersections, as described in Part I. Results of measurements of the bainite habit plane are reported. These results are compared with those obtained from two-surface analyses employed to the same bainite plates.     

A feature-sampling account of the time course of old–new recognition judgments.

This article describes the feature-sampling theory of recognition (FESTHER), a new model of the time course of recognition judgments based on a model of the time course of perceptual processing in categorization (K. Lamberts, 1995, 1998). FESTHER is applied to previous results and to data from 4 old–new recognition experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 provided a preliminary test of the model's ability to explain recognition judgments of simple objects under response deadlines. Experiments 3 and 4 involved a response-signal procedure to elicit recognition judgments at different time lags after presentation of a stimulus. Simple objects and words were used as stimuli in Experiments 3 and 4, respectively. The new model accounts well for the data from the 4 experiments and offers a parsimonious account of the time course of recognition judgments based on the time-dependent availability of stimulus information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

History of psychology 1900–2000: Uncertain Genesis.

The new discipline of psychology had been established at a number of American colleges and universities by 1900, but it usually existed in a more rudimentary form, as compared with the familiar autonomous department of psychology found today. The current form took quite a number of years to evolve: A century ago, a survey of these schools would have shown psychology programs to have existed mostly at early stages of development. Many of the schools were still teaching some form of moral or mental philosophy or only one or two courses in psychology. A few of the schools had established psychology laboratories. Fewer still were offering the doctor of philosophy degree in psychology, while a mere handful had independent psychology departments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: Dalmas A. Taylor (1933–1998).

Memorializes D. A. Taylor, a social justice leader, scholar, politician and administrator, mentor and teacher. Taylor was the founder of the Minority Fellowship Program in the American Psychological Association. He helped open the APA to ethnic minority psychologists by conceiving of the Summit of Ethnic Minority Psychologists in 1978. Taylor served on various APA boards, committees, task forces, and ad hoc groups, and was elected president of Division 9 and Division 45. He co-wrote the book, Theory of Social Penetration (1973) with I. Altman and co-edited the book, Eliminating Racism: Profiles in Controversy (1988) with P. Katz. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self–other agreement in job performance ratings: A meta-analytic test of a process model.

This meta-analysis explores agreement in self- and supervisory ratings of job performance (k = 128 independent samples). It suggests a 3-stage model of the rating process and reviews the empirical evidence for the relevance of each of these 3 stages to an understanding of agreement in ratings. The proposed 3-stage model serves as the guiding rationale for the examination of an extensive set of variables that moderate rater agreement. Results are reported for 2 indicators of rater agreement (correlational and mean-level agreement). Self-supervisor ratings yielded an overall correlation of .22 (ρ = .34; k = 115; n = 37,752). Position characteristics and the use of nonjudgmental performance indicators were the main moderators. Leniency in self-ratings is indicated by higher mean levels of self-ratings compared with supervisory ratings. Within Western samples, performance self-ratings showed leniency (d = 0.32, Δ = .49; k = 89; n = 35,417) dependent on contextual features, scale format, and scale content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive–behavioral therapy for adult anxiety disorders in clinical practice: A meta-analysis of effectiveness studies.

The efficacy of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety in adults is well established. In the present study, the authors examined whether CBT tested under well-controlled conditions generalizes to less-controlled, real-world circumstances. Fifty-six effectiveness studies of CBT for adult anxiety disorders were located and synthesized. Meta-analytic effect sizes are presented for disorder-specific symptom measures as well as symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression for each disorder, and benchmarked to results from randomized controlled trials. All pretest–posttest effect sizes for disorder-specific symptom measures were large, suggesting that CBT for adult anxiety disorders is effective in clinically representative conditions. Six studies included a control group, and between-groups comparisons yielded large effect sizes for disorder-specific symptoms in favor of CBT. Benchmarking indicated that results from effectiveness studies were in the range of those obtained in selected efficacy trials. To test whether studies that are more representative of clinical settings have smaller effect sizes, the authors coded studies for 9 criteria for clinical representativeness. Results indicate an inverse relationship between clinical representativeness and outcome, but the magnitude of the relationship is quite small. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sintering of Tungsten and Tungsten Heavy Alloys of W–Ni–Fe and W–Ni–Cu: A Review

Tungsten is a refractory metal possessing good mechanical properties of high strength, high yield point, and high resistance to creep. Therefore, tungsten and its alloys are used in many high temperature applications. Due to the high melting point, they are generally processed through powder metallurgy method. The powders are compacted using die pressing or isostatic pressing. The compacts are sintered in a sintering furnace to achieve high density, thereby, making the metal suitable for further processing. This article reviews the recent research findings of consolidating tungsten and its alloys (W–Ni–Fe and W–Ni–Cu), from preparation of powder alloys to sintering of the compact. The advances in sintering are based on the objective of achieving good densification of the metal at lower temperature and at faster rate. The use of microwave sintering and spark plasma sintering techniques resulted in significant reduction in sintering time and producing products of good mechanical properties.     

"Same"–"different" judgments: A review of current controversies in perceptual comparisons.

Reviews the literature on 2 anomalous effects, the "fast-same" effect (FSE) and the criterion effect, found in the interpretation of same–different reaction-time data. No 2 models localize the FSE in the same information-processing stage or attribute the phenomenon to a common stimulus property or task demand. It is suggested that each of the models, or some combination of them, may account for particular instances of the FSE. Findings show that disjunctive same–different judgments differ from conjunctive judgments in both quantitative and qualitative respects. The criterion effect rules out models in which a dimensional comparison process underlies conjunctive different judgments, for such models have no provision for making disjunctive judgments contingent on a different process. It has been suggested that feature matching might be amenable to criterion-contingent processing modes, forming the basis of a unified model of same–different judgments. Another approach takes the view that the conjunctive same response is an absolute, rather than relative, judgment, giving rise to an attentional model. (4? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Théodule Ribot (1839–1916), founder of French psychology: A biographical introduction.

Théodule Ribot taught philosophy before obtaining 2 doctoral degrees from the Sorbonne in 1873: 1 about David Hartley and 1 about hereditary factors in psychology. Ribot wrote books on the topics of 19th-century British psychology (1870), 19th-century German psychology (1879), diseases of memory (1881), diseases of will (1883b), and diseases of personality (1885), among others. He founded the Revue Philosophique (Ribot, 1876b), had a chair created for him at the Collège de France (in 1888), helped organize the first French laboratory of experimental psychology (in 1889), and presided over the First International Congress of Psychology in Paris in 1889 (Ribot, 1889b). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child–parent attachment and children's peer relations: A quantitative review.

The central premise of attachment theory is that the security of the early child–parent bond is reflected in the child's interpersonal relationships across the life span. This meta-analysis was based on 63 studies that reported correlations between child–parent attachment and children's peer relations. The overall effect size (ES) for child–mother attachment was in the small-to-moderate range and was quite homogeneous. ESs were similar in studies that featured the Strange Situation and Q-sort methods. The effects were larger for peer relations in middle childhood and adolescence than for peer relations in early childhood. ESs were also higher for studies that focused on children's close friendships rather than on relations with other peers. Gender and cultural differences in ESs were minimal. The results for the few studies on father–child attachment were inconclusive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother–child play and maltreatment: A longitudinal analysis of emerging social behavior from infancy to toddlerhood.

Mother–child play of maltreating and nonmaltreating families was analyzed when infants were 12 months old (Time 1), and 2 years old (Time 2), as a context to examine children's developing cognitive and social skills. At Time 1, infants from abusing families demonstrated less independent and more imitative behavior during play than did infants from neglecting and nonmaltreating families, suggesting a delay in emerging social behaviors. In this longitudinal follow-up, mother–child play was reassessed 1 year later (N = 78), with a focus on children's engagement in nonplay and pretend play and on children's abilities to initiate social exchanges and respond to parental requests. Play and social behavior were coded from semistructured and unstructured play paradigms at both time points. Maternal attention-directing behavior and limit setting also was assessed. At Time 2, children from abusing, neglecting, and nonmaltreating families did not differ in cognitive play complexity. However, children from abusing families engaged in less child-initiated play than did children from neglecting and nonmaltreating families, demonstrating less socially competent behavior. Longitudinal analyses revealed child initiated play at Time 2 was negatively associated with abuse and with maternal physical attention directing behavior at Time 1. Child negative reactivity at Time 2 was positively associated with Time 1 maternal physical behavior and child imitation and with Time 2 maternal controlling behavior. Implications for early intervention efforts are emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)