Acquistion of structural versus object landmark knowledge.

Three experiments investigated the acquisition and retention of structural and object landmarks in virtual indoor environments. The experiments investigated the rate of acquisition and memory retention for hallway structure (structural landmarks) and pictures (object landmarks). The experiments investigated the rate of acquisition, the role of information content, and memory retention of this information when participants were trained and tested in novel virtual indoor environments. The results from these experiments suggest that (a) even initially, participants are biased toward encoding building structure over object landmarks; (b) participants are sensitive to the information content of landmarks and will allocate memory resources to landmarks that are more informative; and (c) information about these landmarks is retained even after a 1-year delay. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's knowledge of structural properties of expository text.

Examined children's knowledge of 3 structural properties of expository text—topical relatedness, superordination, and cohesion. 15 children each in Grades 3, 5, and 7 completed a series of paragraph-construction tasks. Nearly all the Ss were able to identify paragraphs in text and to group topically related sentences together to make short texts. Only the 7th-grade Ss were adept at describing what makes a paragraph a paragraph, at excluding topically unrelated sentences from short texts, and at arranging sentences into cohesive wholes. Even the oldest Ss experienced some difficulty in placing main-idea statements in the modal structural position. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motor skill: Feedback, knowledge, and structural issues.

Discusses feedback processing of and structural constraints on movement. From a review of the relevant research, it is argued that the time to process feedback has been generally overestimated for aiming movements of the hand and that visual information about the target and especially the hand is important, as is the rapid processing of kinesthetic feedback. It is proposed that skilled aiming movement is a product of tightly coupled efferent and afferent information within a sensorimotor system comprising the eyes, head, and hand. In consideration of the relationship between knowledge and movement, a review of the research suggests that production systems for motor skill should include constraints of musculoskeletal and neural structures as well as constraints of structure in environmental information. It is concluded that accounts of motor skills might profitably include movement dynamics (in physical terms), the skill-specific knowledge base through which objectives are defined, and the biological apparatus for realizing those objectives. (French abstract) (3? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Curiosity and control: On the determinants of the search for social knowledge.

Hypothesized that people will be particularly inclined to seek information about others when they have recently been deprived of control. 61 female undergraduates experienced either noncontrollable outcomes on a problem-solving task or had no such experience. Ss were then introduced to a 2nd unrelated study in which they expected to interview another individual. Some Ss were led to believe that acquiring information about the interviewee would have high utility; others were given no such expectation. The effects of these manipulations were assessed. Results confirm the hypothesis. There was also an independent tendency for Ss to seek highly diagnostic information when they believed that the information had high utility. The relationship between the motive to maintain control and the processes by which people formulate and sustain images of themselves and others is discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis of the structural and phase sensitivity of the relaxation magnetization of steels

A formula for calculating relaxation magnetization M_Hr M_{H_r } of steels from their saturation magnetization and remanent magnetization is used to analyze the structural and phase sensitivity of M_Hr M_{H_r }. The conditions under which M_Hr M_{H_r } has a high sensitivity to changes in the structural state and phase composition of steel are established.     

Renal water-electrolyte excretion and its control mechanisms. Current status of knowledge

The literature on hydronatriuresis control processes operating at the level of individual renal functional units and of the organ as a whole is analysed. 1) Elementary sodium salt and water tubular transport mechanisms. In converting the filtrate into urine, the kidney expends metabolic energy: this is used in the (active) transport of sodium salts; (passive) transport of water takes place along the osmotic gradients created by salt transfer. The proximal tubules reabsorb the sodium bic-rbonate actively. The reabsorption of the osmitic equivalent of water has the effect of concentrating NaCl in the tubular fluid. An important role in the reabsorption of NaCl is played by passive diffusion from the lumen to the interstitial fluid; the remainder is transferred actively, perhaps by an electrically neutral pump. With respect to the other nephronic segments, the proximal tubule has a relatively high passive permeability to water and salts: active transport here must not surmount high friction resistances nor take place against important concentration gradients. The low permeability of the distal nephron, on the other hand, increases the energy cost of salt transport; for the same reason, important electrochemical gradients are created and the composition of tubular fluid is drastically altered. 2) Elementary mechanisms of tubular potassium transport. Potassium is reabsorbed actively along the whole nephron by a luminal pump. The proximal tubules and Henle loops promote practically complete absorption of filtrated potassium. The distal tubules and collectors have the two-fold capacity of secreting and reabsorbing cation: the quantity of potassium excreted with the urine depends on the degree of excess of the secretion process. At distal tubular level, potassium secretion is a passive phenomenon dependent on the favourable transluminal gradient of the cation's electrochemical potential. 3) Renal function and volume homoeostasis of extracellular fluid. The organism's sodium content is largely controlled by renal excretion of sodium; homoeostasis of the sodium mass guarantees volume homoeostasis of the extracellular fluid through thirst and osmotic secretion of ADH. Extracellular fluid volume errors are picked up by the organism to the extent to which they translate themselves into pressure variations in the low pressure vascular system or into variations in haematic constituent concentration within the vascular sector, produced with velocities independent, at least in the short term, of the volume of extracellular fluid. In control of natriuria are the glomerular filtrate, intrarenal distribution of blood flow and tubular reabsorption of sodium; in its turn, the latter is subject to nervous and hormonal influences and influences from the physical environment surrounding the nephrons...     

Nurses' knowledge of infection control

The article is based on a research study examining infection control in nurse education and practice. A survey of a large population was carried out to establish the perceived importance of microbiological knowledge to nurses and to ascertain whether this knowledge was present. The results suggest that although microbiological knowledge is considered necessary for safe infection control practice, nurses' actual knowledge falls far short of the level required for 'informed' practice. What this implies in relation to patient care, and recommendations regarding education and practice, are discussed.     

The Construction of Mental Maps Based on a Fragmentary View of Physical Maps.

Participants acquired spatial knowledge of a fictitious island by studying either (a) a complete physical map, (b) a sequence of part maps each showing the outline of the island and a subset of the landmarks, or (c) a sequence of sentences each describing a part map. During test, they verified the direction between 2 landmarks. Spatial knowledge in the fragment condition was as high as in the complete map condition, and both were better than the text group. Response times showed a distance effect. Additionally, spatial relations really presented were judged faster than inferred relations. The author replicated these results in a condition in which only relative spatial information could be used. These results suggest that simultaneity is not critical for obtaining a map advantage in spatial learning and that the mental representation of the map is structured. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal self-efficacy, knowledge of infant development, sensory sensitivity, and maternal response during interaction.

When their infants were 6 months of age, mothers were assessed for self-efficacy (low, moderate, and high illusory control) and knowledge of infant development to determine their impact on mothers' behavioral sensitivity and affect during a feeding task at 9 months (N=70). Mothers' sensory sensitivity to digital images of infants' negative and positive expressions assessed in a signal detection task at 6 months was hypothesized to mediate this relation. Mothers with moderate illusory control exhibited greatest behavioral sensitivity and positive affect. Low knowledge was associated with reduced sensitivity for mothers with low illusory control only. When viewing the negative expression, mothers with moderate illusory control and high knowledge exhibited greatest sensory sensitivity, and mothers with high illusory control and moderate/high knowledge were least sensitive. Although sensory sensitivity was not a mediating variable, its relation to both illusory control and subsequent maternal measures during feeding was informative. Although greater sensory sensitivity predicted more sensitive behavior and more positive affect, only for maternal affect was the relation independent of illusion of control effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Taxometric and factor analytic models of anxiety sensitivity: Integrating approaches to latent structural research.

This study represents an effort to better understand the latent structure of anxiety sensitivity (AS), as indexed by the 16-item Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; S. Reiss, R. A. Peterson, M. Gursky, & R. J. McNally, 1986), by using taxometric and factor-analytic approaches in an integrative manner. Taxometric analyses indicated that AS has a taxonic latent class structure (i.e., a dichotomous latent class structure) in a large sample of North American adults (N = 2,515). As predicted, confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a multidimensional 3-factor model of AS provided a good fit for the AS complement class (normative or low-risk form) but not the AS taxon class (high-risk form). Exploratory factor analytic results suggested that the AS taxon may demonstrate a unique, unidimensional factor solution, though there are alternative indications that it may be characterized by a 2-factor solution. Findings suggest that the latent structural nature of AS can be conceptualized as a taxonic latent class structure composed of 2 types or forms of AS, each of these forms characterized by its own unique latent continuity and dimensional structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aphasic patients' sensitivity to structural and meaning violations when monitoring for nouns and verbs in sentences.

Aphasic patients with and without impairment of semantically reversible sentence comprehension and 2 groups of normal controls were monitored for unambiguous noun or verb targets while listening to sentence pairs. Four conditions of target-word/sentence-pair congruence were created by manipulating the predictability of the target word from a context sentence and by inserting targets into structures that were appropriate or inappropriate for the target's grammatical class. Normal and aphasic listeners showed comparable sensitivity to structural violations under different conditions of semantic predictability, and there was little difference in the performance of aphasic patients with and without comprehension disorder. These results support the argument that normal sensitivity to syntactic requirements can be found in patients with reversible sentence comprehension disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis implications of the choice of a structural model in the nonequivalent control group design.

Reviews D. A. Kenny's (1975) general model and suggests an approach involving the use of multiple measures as an alternative means of achieving identification. The multiple measures approach has potential advantages where program assignment to the treatment condition is based on group differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moral knowledge and the problems of psychotherapy.

The distinction between objective and subjective knowledge has a long philosophical history, but the modem version has ties to Hume's separation of reason and belief. The extraction of reason from mere habits of the mind raises its own problems concerning the possibility of knowledge (via the problem of induction). These problems are especially acute within the therapeutic context. Indeed, the inclusion of morals in psychotherapy is considered unethical. This arises from the assumption that morality is idiosyncratic and subjective whereas scientific knowledge is objective and thus closer to truth. The argument developed here is that the therapeutic endeavor is implicitly philosophical and civic in its assumptions. As such it requires the resources of moral and political philosophy as well as a standard by which to assess its achievements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia buffers against rejection sensitivity via emotion control.

Emerging evidence suggests that high resting heart rate variability in the respiratory frequency band, or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) may capture individual differences in the capacity to engage in situationally appropriate regulation of affect and behavior. The authors therefore hypothesized that high RSA may act as a protective factor against difficulties controlling negative affect and hostile behaviors in conflicts with romantic partners in highly rejection-sensitive individuals--a population otherwise vulnerable to these responses. Results were consistent with this hypothesis such that highly rejection-sensitive participants reported less emotion control and more hostility in conflicts only if they were also low in RSA. Furthermore, emotion control mediated the joint effect of rejection-sensitivity and RSA on hostile conflict behavior. These results are consistent with the argument that resting RSA is a marker of flexible responding in the context of highly emotional situations, and further suggest that it may serve as a protective factor particularly in vulnerable populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the sensitivity of regression and regressors.

Acknowledges the corrections and clarifications of the author's (see record 1976-29043-001) equal weights theorem offered by J. E. Laughlin (see record 1979-02690-001) and R. M. Pruzek and B. C. Frederick (see record 1979-02691-001). It is shown that least squares estimators of regression parameters are very unstable under some conditions. Alternative estimation procedures are surveyed, and their widespread utilization is urged. The appropriateness of the conditions of the author's equal weights theorem is discussed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge of secondary mathematics teachers.

Drawing on the work of L. S. Shulman (1986), the authors present a conceptualization of the pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge of secondary-level mathematics teachers. They describe the theory-based construction of tests to assess these knowledge categories and the implementation of these tests in a sample of German mathematics teachers (N=198). Analyses investigate whether pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge can be distinguished empirically, and whether the mean level of knowledge and the degree of connectedness between the two knowledge categories depends on mathematical expertise. Findings show that mathematics teachers with an in-depth mathematical training (i.e., teachers qualified to teach at the academic-track Gymnasium) outscore teachers from other school types on both knowledge categories and exhibit a higher degree of cognitive connectedness between the two knowledge categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavior analysis and the social construction of knowledge.

A phenomenon of contemporary interest in social psychology is the social construction of knowledge—knowledge arising out of the interactions of people in communities rather than from interaction with the nonsocial environment. A behavior analysis of such socially constructed knowledge is presented, based on Skinner's (1957) functional types of verbal behavior and the social contingencies that maintain them. Socially constructed knowledge occurs as intraverbals, as tacts with loose discrimination, and when there are powerful social controls determining the verbal behavior in a group. The distinction between rule-governed and contingency-governed behavior shows the limits of socially constructed knowledge, whereas the social contingencies involved in minority influence and innovation show how changes can occur in community representations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prior knowledge and the desire for information.

Conducted 2 experiments to test D. Berlyne's theory that the desire for knowledge increases with the degree of conceptual conflict, and that new information serves to reduce the conflict. In Exp. I, 38 6th graders rated the extent to which they wished to explore 155 items of information. They also indicated their knowledge of these items. It was found that Ss wished mostly to experience those things about which they had a moderate amount of prior knowledge. In Exp. II, 43 11th graders indicated the extent of agreement with 24 controversial issues, and were then offered further information on each of the items. When Ss had no set attitude towards statements, they were less likely to reject additional information and more likely to accept the opportunity to receive general rather than biased information. Both studies support the authors' hypothesis that new information is sought when there is some prior knowledge and when conceptual conflict exists. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)