On the Issue "What Is a Science?"

Item expresses the author's very strong feeling that the entire argument of whether or not any particular profession or occupational area is or is not a science is invalid and needless. He submits that there is no such thing as a science; only Science, with a capital "S." Science is a method and a philosophy and is not related to whichever area it is applied. And that a true Scientist may apply himself to any problem whatsoever without lessening his position as a Scientist. There are no such things as sciences; there is only Science and there are only Scientists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does the general practitioner have a place in future medicine?

The structure and content of the health care services are changing rapidly. General practice will be justified just as long as patients, doctors and society at large consider it important, useful, safe and economically sound. In order to survive it is important for the general practitioner, as a "Jack of all trades", to set honest limits for his or her own competence, and learn to use the new information technology to retrieve relevant knowledge quickly. The "patient" patient will become less frequent and more demanding consumers are emerging. The generalist is getting additional, new roles as the patient's teacher and adviser. The government and other payers will expect more documentation of outcome, cost-effectiveness and quality assurance from general practice. For the generalist, one of the major challenges will be a necessary transition from being an individualist to becoming more of a team player.     

How "rigid" is the "authoritarian?"

Ss were given the California F-scale, a reversed F-scale and a series of Einstellung water-jar problems. Ss who used the "rigid" solution to the water-jar problems also tended to agree with both F-scale and reversed F-scale items. This would suggest that both the Einstellung test and F-scale may be reflecting acquiescence. 20 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does extrinsic goal framing enhance extrinsic goal-oriented individuals' learning and performance? An experimental test of the match perspective versus self-determination theory.

Previous work within self-determination theory has shown that experimentally framing a learning activity in terms of extrinsic rather than intrinsic goals results in poorer conceptual learning and performance, presumably because extrinsic goal framing detracts attention from the learning activity and is less directly satisfying of basic psychological needs. According to the match perspective, experimental extrinsic, compared to intrinsic, goal framing should enhance learning and performance for learners who personally hold a stronger extrinsic than intrinsic goal orientation, as these learners' personally held goals match with the situationally induced goals. An experimental field study among 5th-6th grade children shows that extrinsic goal framing resulted in poorer autonomous motivation, conceptual (but not rote) learning, and persistence compared to intrinsic goal framing, irrespective of participants' personal intrinsic versus extrinsic goal orientations and their spontaneous perception of the learning activity as serving an intrinsic or an extrinsic goal. The authors conclude that teachers can best promote intrinsic goals, even when facing students who personally hold a stronger extrinsic than intrinsic goal orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does the mind fall apart in multiple personality disorder? Some proposals based on a psychoanalytic case

A psychoanalytic study of some of the phenomena of multiple personality disorder (MPD), this paper takes issue with the view that a falling apart, fragmentation, or disaggregation of the mind is at the bottom of MPD's characteristic symptoms. Since first proposed by Janet in 1889, the view that ordinarily integrated parts of the mind separate from the center, accounting for the appearance of separate "selves," has prevailed among workers in this field. The close psychoanalytic study of a case of MPD suggests that, to the contrary, the appearance of multiplicity may derive from an essentially unitary but nonetheless powerful set of organizing fantasies centering on the idea that one's body and mind can be taken over and controlled by persons other than oneself. The data of the case under study suggest, further, that certain of the details of these patients' histories of childhood sexual and physical abuse may be of great importance in explaining the extraordinary organizing power of their fantasies of being occupied and controlled. In this connection, special attention is directed to the very commonly reported experiences of forced violation and the involuntary filling and emptying of their bodies during childhood.     

Do the Kallikaks look "menacing" or "retarded?"

To extend R. E. Fancher's (see record 1987-31600-001) review of claims that photographs of the Kallikak family in H. H. Goddard's (1912) study had been retouched to make them look more menacing and retarded, 29 Ss (aged 18–69 yrs) were surveyed for their impressions of the photographs. Overall, Ss were strongly inclined to view the photographed individuals as "kind" and "very bright." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Is clinical psychology a science?": Comment.

Comments on an article by Carlton Berenda titled Is clinical psychology a science? (see record 1959-03759-001). As one who aligns himself firmly with those who hold the view that much of clinical psychology and most of psychoanalysis is "obscure and poetic" fabrication, I should like to suggest that in his discussion Berenda apparently has overlooked and failed to take into account perhaps the most crucial issue upon which is based this negative evaluation: that of empirical verification of predicted consequences. Apart from any other errors and misconceptions that may stem from such an omission, this unfortunate oversight leads Berenda with relentless logic to the inescapable assumption of a rather weird and obviously untenable position of subjective relativism as well as to the promulgation of a strangely naive and equally indefensible rationalism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Did you have a nice evening?" A day-level study on recovery experiences, sleep, and affect.

In this study, the authors used a within-person design to examine the relation between recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery experiences) during leisure time, sleep, and affect in the next morning. Daily survey data gathered over the course of 1 work week from 166 public administration employees analyzed with a hierarchical linear modeling approach showed that low psychological detachment from work during the evening predicted negative activation and fatigue, whereas mastery experiences during the evening predicted positive activation and relaxation predicted serenity. Sleep quality showed relations with all affective states variables. This study adds to research on job-stress recovery and affect regulation by showing which specific experiences from the nonwork domain may improve affect before the start of the next working day. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Surface tension of a titanium-containing oxide–fluoride melt calculated by the polymer theory

The surface tension of an aluminum–calcium oxide–fluoride melt is calculated using the polymer theory. It is shown that, at 15 mol % titanium oxide in the melt, aluminum–fluorine–oxygen complexes mainly form. When the titanium oxide content increases further, these complexes disappear and are partly replaced by titanium–oxygen TiO ₄ ^4- and Ti₂O ₇ ^6- anions and titanium–fluorine–oxygen groups.     

Kinetics of sub-grain coalescence—A reconsideration of the theory

The theory for the kinetics of sub-grain coalescence originally developed by Li [J. appl. Phys.33, 2958 (1962)] has been modified; the original theory significantly underestimates the observed times for coalescence in aluminium at temperatures below 350°C. The first modification considers the climb mobility of dislocationloops rather than that of isolated edge dislocations. For mobility limited by bulk diffusion the result is similar to that given by Li, but mobility limited by pipe diffusion is possible for dislocation loops and is found to give much higher mobilities at temperatures less than 350°C. An additional modification is the relaxation of Li's assumption of a uniform dislocation array now known to be incorrect. A simple computer simulation of coalescence by independent climb of a set of dislocation loops, is shown to give non-uniform dislocation distributions very similar to those observed. In combination with the pipe diffusion model for climb mobility, the simulation matches the reported kinetics of coalescence. Finally, the model for coalescence developed here, involving interaction of different dislocation loops, is shown to account for the known heterogeneity of sites for coalescence in aluminium. It is predicted that coalescence requirestwo adjacent high-angle boundaries to act as dislocation sinks.     

Can Beck's theory of depression and the response style theory be integrated?

There are obvious similarities between the cognitive constructs of A. T. Beck's (1976) cognitive theory and the response style theory (S. Nolen-Hoeksema & J. Morrow, 1991). Different propositions of J. A. Ciesla and J. E. Roberts (2007) and S. Lyubomirsky and S. Nolen-Hoeksema (1993, 1995) concerning associations of 2 response styles, brooding and reflection, with constructs of Beck's cognitive theory (schemata, cognitive errors, cognitive triad, automatic thoughts) were tested. Model comparisons were based on a 4-week study in which 397 participants completed self-report instruments at 2 time points. A model allowing schemata to influence brooding and reflection that influence the other cognitive variables of Beck's cognitive theory fits the data better than the other integrated models. However, although schemata were significant predictors of both response styles, neither response style did significantly predict other cognitive variables. A comparison of the integrated model with Beck's original cognitive theory revealed that Beck's original theory fits the data better than the integrated model, whereas both models explain about the same amount of variance. Thus, an integration of Beck's theory and the response style theory are not supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

On a stochastic theory of grain growth—II

The stochastic theory of grain growth proposed previously [C. S. Pande, Acta metall.35, 2671 (1987)] is developed further in this paper. This theory leads to a Fokker-Planck equation for the grain size distribution. Two different “deterministic” terms for this equation, one proposed by Hillert and other by Pande, are compared. It is found that contrary to expectations Hillert's determistic term even with the addition of a “diffusion” like term does not lead to a grain size distribution which could be in agreement with experiments. The deterministic term proposed by Pande, leads to a grain size distribution which is similar to lognormal distribution, and closer to experimental results.     

Unraveling social categorization in the "who said what?" paradigm

A multinomial model of the "Who said what?" paradigm (S. E. Taylor, S. T. Fiske, N. J. Etcoff, & A. J. Ruderman, 1978) explains the pattern of participants' assignment errors by means of the joint operation of several processes. Specifically, memory for discussion statements, person memory, category memory, and 3 different guessing processes can be accommodated by the model. The model's ability to disentangle these processes is validated in a series of 5 experiments. The model thereby enables a more refined use of the "Who said what?" paradigm in testing theories of social categorization. This is demonstrated in a 6th experiment in which the validated model is applied to the study of the effects of cognitive load on categorization.     

Does the study of victimization revictimize the victims?

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has produced a wealth of novel images that have significantly complemented our perception of biological structure and function, derived initially from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) information. SEM is a surface imaging technology, and its impact at the subcellular level has been restricted by reduced resolution in comparison with TEM. Recently, SEM resolution has been considerably improved by the advent of high-brightness sources used in field-emission instruments (FEISEM) which have produced resolution of around 1 nm, virtually equivalent to TEM "working resolution." Here we review our findings in the use of FEISEM in the imaging of nuclear envelopes and their associated structures, such as nuclear pore complexes, and the relationships of structure and function. FEISEM allows the structurally orientated cell biologist to visualise, directly and in three dimensions, subcellular structure and its modulation with a view to understanding its functional significance.     

Does statistical language constitute a "significant" roadblock to readers' interpretations of research results?

Critics of statistical hypothesis testing mention how such tests mislead unsuspecting readers into believing that a statistically significant outcome is important and that a nonsignificant outcome is unimportant. Specifically, they mention how the term significant is misleading. In 3 experiments, the authors investigated whether statistical language influences readers' interpretations of research results. For "statistically na?ve" college students reading brief research abstracts, the term significant contributed somewhat to an overinterpretation of the results' importance. But for reading lengthier abstracts and articles, language per se was associated with no negative outcomes. Although the authors argue that "significant" language changes should not be mandated for quantitative research studies in scientific journals, if such changes are mandated, then use of the term statistical is recommended as a straightforward solution to the problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of residual stresses on the debonding of coatings—II. An experimental study of a thermally sprayed system

Specimens have been produced by plasma spraying of boron carbide coatings about 1 mm in thickness on to titanium alloy substrates about 3 mm thick. The residual stress distributions in these specimens have been calculated using a numerical process model and also estimated from observed changes in curvature on debonding. Good agreement was observed between the two methods, with both suggesting the average substrate stress to be about + 20 MPa and the average coating stress to be about −60 MPa. In both constituents, there was a significant positive gradient of stress level through the thickness. These specimens were loaded in four point bending until cracks propagated along the interface between substrate and coating. From the load/displacement plots obtained during this testing, and taking account of the effect of relaxation of the residual stresses during debonding, the critical strain energy release rates of the interfaces, G_ic, were estimated to be ∼ 0.2–0.5 kJ m⁻². Substantial errors would have resulted from neglect of the presence of the residual stresses. Also of significance is the effect of the residual stresses on the mode mixity of interfacial loading, as characterised by the phase angle, ψ, since G_ic has been often observed to vary with ψ. The value of ψ for the four point bend test in the absence of residual stress is about 47°, whereas for the specimens tested here it was estimated to cover the complete range from 90° (pure shear) to 0° (pure opening) as the applied load was increased. The quoted values of G_ic were obtained in a regime where ψ ∼ 30°.     

The "where is it?" reflex: autoshaping the orienting response

The goal of this review is to compare two divergent lines of research on signal-centered behavior: the orienting reflex (OR) and autoshaping. A review of conditioning experiments in animals and humans suggests that the novelty hypothesis of the OR is no longer tenable. Only stimuli that represent biological "relevance" elicit ORs. A stimulus may be relevant a priori (i.e., unconditioned) or as a result of conditioning. Exposure to a conditioned stimulus (CS) that predicts a positive reinforcer causes the animal to orient to it throughout conditioning. Within the CS-US interval, the initial CS-directed orienting response is followed by US-directed tendencies. Experimental evidence is shown that the development and maintenance of the conditioned OR occur in a similar fashion both in response-independent (classical) and response-dependent (instrumental) paradigms. It is proposed that the conditioned OR and the signal-directed autoshaped response are identical. Signals predicting aversive events repel the subject from the source of the CS. It is suggested that the function of the CS is not only to signal the probability of US occurrence, but also to serve as a spatial cue to guide the animal in the environment.     

Solidification of Metallic Alloys: Does the Structure of the Liquid Matter?

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - In 1952, Frank (Proc R Soc Lond Ser-Math Phys Sci 215:43–46, 1952) already postulated that Icosahedral Short Range Order (ISRO) of atoms in the...