Toward the definition of a domain of academic motivation.

In the domain of academic motivation, distinctions such as statics vs dynamics, rational vs empirical, and linear or "one shot" vs cyclic or "bootstrapping" help clarify the focus of previous studies and suggest guidelines for future studies. The present study's development of a 75-item self-report Academic Motivations Inventory is presented as illustrating bootstrapping in researching the structure of academic motivation. The 1st and 2nd cycles of the study are described briefly. In the current cycle (Cycle 3) of the development of this instrument, 626 university students were administered the inventory. Factor analyses of the inventory produced a set of 9 interpretable dimensions which summarize a considerable portion of the domain and which can be measured with adequate reliability. This collection of factors is discussed in relation to prior studies of the structure of the domain; further research toward the development of the domain is specified. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Productivity and scholarly impact: Correction for Endler et al.

Corrects an error in the calculation of mean publications for the University of Missouri-Kansas City in an article by N. S. Endler et al (see record 1979-26949-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When more is less: Quantity versus quality of publications in the evaluation of academic vitae.

244 clinical and 276 experimental psychologists were asked to rate their opinion of a hypothetical psychologist based on 1 of 17 vitae containing a list of the number of publications the psychologist achieved over the previous 3 yrs and the journals in which they appeared. Results show that adding what are perceived to be low-quality publications to a vita will usually hurt, may at times be neutral, and will rarely help academic peer ratings of achievement. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Faculty consultation: An emerging role for the counseling psychologist.

Considers that a recent trend for counseling psychologists working in higher education settings has been an increasing repertoire of effective therapeutic interventions. The traditional role of one-to-one and small group intervention is being expanded to include associational group and institutional and community intervention. Consultation with college and university faculty is one expression of this emerging role. In response to requests from faculty members, a university counseling center staff developed a training procedure designed to help students acquire the skills needed to interact productively in small groups with the purpose of learning academic material. The history, theoretical basis, and operations of this program, entitled "Education Through Student Interaction," is described. The emphasis was later changed to teach faculty how to train their students by means of this procedure. The extensive use of paraprofessionals and student assistants added to the effectiveness of the consultation program. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Topical retinoic acid (tretinoin) for photoaging: conceptions and misperceptions

Sinusoidal rotation and rotational stimulation tests were used to examine vestibular function in guinea pigs. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the mean number of nystagmus of semi-cycle sinusoidal rotation test and the duration of nystagmus of rotational stimulation test for both the control and test groups before treatment in albinos and pigmented guinea pigs. Meantime, daily subcutaneous injection of gentamicin 125 mg/kg body weight for 12 days in albinos and pigmented guinea pigs showed no significant change in vestibular function until the 7th day of treatment. Significant impairment of vestibular function was noticed on the 10th treatment day. At 5 days after treatment vestibular impairment reached its maximum and minimal recovery was seen at 14 days after treatment. No Further improvement of vestibular function was noticed three months after treatment. The methods are feasible and reliable.     

Language Professionals in Engineering Faculty: Cross-Cultural Experience

Communication courses are often given low priority by engineering students and faculty alike. This is mainly because they are perceived to be, and often are, divorced from the realities of the engineering world. Credible and relevant communication courses demand the integration of language and engineering content so that the tasks reflect the sort of problem solving that students will face in real-life engineering contexts. One problem that language specialists face in designing such courses arises from the fact that they hail from a discipline very different from engineering in purpose, subject matter, and pedagogical approach. To work effectively in the different “subculture” of engineering, they need to assimilate and attain the cultural literacy of the discipline. In our institution, the “acculturation” process of language specialists has been helped along by the fact that they are based in the engineering school. This provides greater opportunities for assimilation into the discipline and allows the interfacing of communication skills and civil engineering to take place more effectively. This paper describes how this setup has been instrumental in providing a communication course that students perceive to be relevant and therefore an integral part of their engineering studies.     

Functional evaluation of invariant arginines situated in the mobile lid domain of phosphoribulokinase

Rhodobacter sphaeroides phosphoribulokinase contains four invariant arginines (R49, R168, R173, and R187). The high-resolution structure of this enzyme [Harrison, D. H. T., Runquist, J. A., Holub, A., and Miziorko, H. M. (1998) Biochemistry (submitted for publication)] reveals that it folds in a manner similar to that of adenylate kinase. Three invariant arginines (R168, R173, and R187) as well as arginine-186, which is conserved in prokaryotic phosphoribulokinases, have not been previously functionally evaluated. These arginine residues map within the mobile lid domain that is a distinctive feature of the adenylate kinase family of proteins. Precedent for the significant function of arginines in phosphotransferase reactions prompted substitution of glutamine for each of these three invariant arginines. Solution state characterization of the isolated mutant proteins indicated that they retained a high degree of structural integrity, as indicated by their stoichiometric binding of an alternative nucleotide substrate (trinitrophenyl-ATP) as well as the allosteric effector (NADH). Kinetic characterization indicated > 10(4)-fold diminution in V/KRu5P for R168Q, attributable to a > 300-fold decrease in catalytic efficiency and an increase (approximately 50-fold) in Km Ru5P. For R173Q, a 15-fold diminution in Vmax and a 100-fold increase in Km Ru5P were observed. These observations implicate new components of the ribulose 5-phosphate binding site. Additionally, they confirm assignment of the mobile lid domain as part of the phosphoribulokinase active site, even though this region is well separated from other active site elements in the structure of the open form of the protein. Characterization of R186Q and R187Q mutants suggests that they influence the cooperativity of substrate binding.     

A survey instrument for the assessment of popular conceptions of mental illness

Administered a 190-item survey instrument, designed to assess subgroup differences in the behavioral criteria for mental illness labeling, to 121 White middle-class undergraduates and 120 Black and White adult nurses, policemen, social workers, ministers, and physicians from 2 Southern communities. Most items were taken from the MMPI. The 190 items comprised 25 content homogeneous scales, 7 from the Tryon-Stein-Chu (TSC) clusters, and 18 scales based on homogeneous content. Ss were asked to endorse each item on a 3-point scale of mental illness concern. Results demonstrate that the 25 a priori scales were acceptably reliable by coefficient alpha estimates and that the 18 author-constructed homogeneous content scales compressed into 3 major factors (social inadequacy, personal inadequacy, and psychotic involvement). Also, a hierarchical cluster analysis of the same 18 scales revealed a similar 3-component breakdown and further indicated reliable compression at the 6-cluster level. Overall, the instrument compressed into 13 separate areas of attributed psychopathology (the 7 TSC clusters and the 6 clusters of homogeneous content scales). (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Faculty genealogies: A stimulus for student involvement in history and systems.

Gave 33 college students in a History and Systems of Psychology course the task of developing a professional psychological genealogy for the faculty members who were serving as their academic advisors. Each advisor was traced to his own advisor, and back through the chain until reaching the initial advisor (one who had no formal training in psychology, e.g., W. Wandt). Ss became enthusiastic about the project and evidenced greater involvement in the course than usual. A combined departmental genealogy proved to be of teaching value in its own right, and gave a relatively new department a feeling of historical tradition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What motivates children's behavior and emotion? Joint effects of perceived control and autonomy in the academic domain.

Examined the contribution of perceived control and autonomy to 264 children's (aged 8–20 yrs) self-reported behavior and emotion in the classroom. Multiple regression analyses revealed unique effects of autonomy over and above the strong effects of perceived control. In addition, both sets of perceptions (and their interaction) were found to distinguish children who were active but emotionally disaffected from those who were active and emotionally positive. Specific predictions were also tested regarding the effects of (1) control attributions to 5 causes and (2) 4 reasons for task involvement that differed in degree of autonomy on children's active (vs passive) behavior and 4 kinds of emotions: boredom, distress, anger, and positive emotions. Implications of the findings for theories of children's motivation are discussed, as well as for diagnostic strategies to identify children at risk for motivational problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-cultural psychology as a scholarly discipline: On the flowering of culture in behavioral research.

A history of cross-cultural psychology shows it to be an increasingly important part of modern psychology. Despite widespread agreement that culture is an indispensable component in the understanding of human behavior, there are noteworthy conceptual differences regarding the ways in which culture and behavior interrelate. Perspectives include absolutism and relativism, each with methodological consequences for such contemporary research concerns as values (including individualism-collectivism), gender differences, cognition, aggression, intergroup relations, and psychological acculturation. Societal concerns relating to these topics are briefly described. When all of psychology finally takes into account the effects of culture on human behavior (and vice versa), terms like cross-cultural and cultural psychology will become unnecessary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting the scholarly activity of counseling psychology students: A refinement and extension.

J. H. Kahn and N. A. Scott's (1997) model of scholarly activity was refined by integrating the mentoring relationship as an element of the research training environment and research outcome expectations as an additional mediator, as guided by social-cognitive career theory (SCCT). A national survey of 149 counseling psychology students was used to test the refined model. Results supported an indirect effect of the research training environment on scholarly activity through research interest and research self-efficacy; the student's relationship with his or her mentor did not predict these outcomes. In accord with SCCT, research self-efficacy and research outcome expectations mediated the relationships between students' investigative interests and perceptions of the research training environment (predictors) on research interest and scholarly activity (criteria). This model extends Kahn and Scott's work and suggests the value of integrating SCCT into models of student scholarly activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Representational conceptions in two- and three-dimensional media: A developmental perspective.

Some of the empirical implications of Rudolf Arnheim's concept of representation as a mental activity that goes beyond the perception and imitation of objects and events and transforms them with the means available in a chosen medium are explored in the study of two- and three-dimensional media. Systematic comparisons of children's drawings and their models in clay, and comparisons of diverse objects within the three-dimensional medium reveal significant differences in the form their representations take. The findings highlight the role of the medium in the art form children invent and do not support the notion that a single template underlies their diverse attempts at representation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Audit in practice: planning for discharge from hospital

In this discussion of audit, the authors describe a pilot study on discharge planning. They review existing literature on discharge planning and outline how the results and lessons of the pilot study will help develop a full audit and quality cycle in the future.     

Nursing case management in the NICU: enhanced coordination for discharge planning

A primary goal of health care today is finding alternative ways to provide high-quality, cost-effective care. A model of care that addresses these issues is nursing case management. This article describes the development and implementation of nursing case management in a Level III regional center with the primary goal of enhancing coordination for discharge planning. The model involves development of clinical pathways and utilization of nurse practitioners as case managers. Decreased length of stay, charge per case, and readmission rates are demonstrated following implementation of this program.     

Adverse reactions associated with autologous blood transfusion: evaluation and incidence at a large academic hospital

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) in the stomach is very rare, and only four cases have been reported. As a result, there is still little understanding of its clinical and pathological features. We recently experienced two cases of gastric MFH. The first case was a 78-year-old man with epigastralgia and a loss of body weight. Endoscopy revealed an ulcerated submucosal tumor. A gastrectomy was performed and the diagnosis of MFH was made histopathologically. The second case was a 77-year-old man with pulmonary symptoms. An image diagnosis indicated a strong suspicion of lung cancer, and a right middle and lower lobectomy was thus performed. One month after the operation, a bleeding gastric tumor was found and therefore a gastrectomy was performed. Both tumors were diagnosed as MFH. From the analysis of six reported cases including ours, a preoperative correct diagnosis is found to be difficult although the lesion has grown to a considerable size at the time of operation. Since a metastatic lung lesion was first detected in two out of six cases, it is thus recommended that the stomach should be examined when lung MFH is found. Considering the high mortality and the short survival in the six cases, the prognosis for gastric MFH seems to be poorer than that in the extremities. However, lymph node metastasis is uncommon, and a curative resection is possible in some cases such as in our second case.