Judgments of synchrony between auditory and moving or still visual stimuli.

The flash-lag effect is a visual illusion wherein intermittently flashed, stationary stimuli seem to trail after a moving visual stimulus despite being flashed synchronously. We tested hypotheses that the flash-lag effect is due to spatial extrapolation, shortened perceptual lags, or accelerated acquisition of moving stimuli, all of which call for an earlier awareness of moving visual stimuli over stationary ones. Participants judged synchrony of a click either to a stationary flash of light or to a series of adjacent flashes that seemingly bounced off or bumped into the edge of the visual display. To be judged synchronous with a stationary flash, audio clicks had to be presented earlier--not later--than clicks that went with events, like a simulated bounce (Experiment 1) or crash (Experiments 2-4), of a moving visual target. Click synchrony to the initial appearance of a moving stimulus was no different than to a flash, but clicks had to be delayed by 30-40 ms to seem synchronous with the final (crash) positions (Experiment 2). The temporal difference was constant over a wide range of motion velocity (Experiment 3). Interrupting the apparent motion by omitting two illumination positions before the last one did not alter subjective synchrony, nor did their occlusion, so the shift in subjective synchrony seems not to be due to brightness contrast (Experiment 4). Click synchrony to the offset of a long duration stationary illumination was also delayed relative to its onset (Experiment 5). Visual stimuli in motion enter awareness no sooner than do stationary flashes, so motion extrapolation, latency difference, and motion acceleration cannot explain the flash-lag effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of aging and encoding instructions on emotion-induced memory trade-offs.

The effects of emotion on memory are often described in terms of trade-offs: People often remember central, emotional information at the expense of background details. The present experiment examined the effects of aging and encoding instructions on participants' ability to remember the details of central emotional objects and the backgrounds on which those objects were placed. When young and older adults passively viewed scenes, both age groups showed strong emotion-induced trade-offs. They were able to remember the visual details as well as the general theme of the emotional object, but they had difficulties remembering the visual specifics of the scene background. Age differences emerged, however, when participants were given encoding instructions that emphasized elaborative encoding of the entire scene. With these instructions, young adults overcame the trade-offs (i.e., they no longer showed impairing effects of emotion), whereas older adults continued to show good memory for the emotional object but poor memory for its background. These results suggest that aging impairs the ability to flexibly disengage attention from the negative arousing elements of scenes, preventing the successful encoding of nonemotional aspects of the environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of early research experience and research self-efficacy.

Graduate students in psychology typically report that they either love research or hate research. Despite the fact that most doctoral students in psychology enter some type of clinical practice upon graduation, research is a requirement for all students enrolled in scientist-practitioner programs regardless of their career aspirations beyond graduation. Research advances knowledge in the field of psychology and often guides clinical practice, yet very few psychologists conduct research after graduate school (C. J. Gelso, 1993). Efforts have been undertaken to determine factors that contribute to graduate students' research productivity. One such factor may be research self-efficacy. This study examined the influence of early research experience as a factor to bolster research self-efficacy. Results indicated that supportive peers and mentors contributed to positive research experiences. Additionally, positive team research experiences significantly predicted research self-efficacy. Implications for training programs and students are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Governance,Strategic Risk,Internal Audit: What Auditors Need to Know

Abstract

According to Richard Chambers, President and CEO of the Institute of Internal auditors (IIA), ideally internal audit should follow the risks. Yet as strategic business risks rank near the top of executive and audit committee concerns, Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) reported that such risks account for only 4 percent of audit plan coverage overall.

It is not surprising that strategic risk is top of mind for boards and senior management. As regulators around the world increase expectations, many suggest objective, independent evaluation is a critical component that boards should take advantage of in fulfilling their oversight role. These developments present tremendous opportunity for internal auditors to provide much needed assurance on strategic risk. Taking advantage of this opportunity requires that internal auditors not only apply their expertise in effective risk governance, but also demonstrate their knowledge of strategy, and perhaps more importantly, their understanding of the relationship between risk and strategy.

Given the changing landscape of the field of strategy and risk management, some internal auditors may feel that contributing to strengthening this area is beyond their capacity. However many tools are available to support auditors. Developing competency requires not only knowledge of the organization's strategy and associated risks, but also staying current on emerging thinking and best practices in the field of strategy and risk management as well as emerging expectations of regulators and standard setters. Providing assurance on strategic risk is a challenge, however one that is within our grasp through thoughtful, deliberate planning and action.     

“Okay,My Rant is Over”: The Language of Emotion in Computer-Mediated Communication

Even when instructors take steps to mitigate conflict between students, online discussions are likely to be more emotional than face-to-face discussions, and student posts frequently bear characteristics of ranting. This paper uses a model from the field of psycholinguistics to identify linguistic features that writers use to communicate emotion in CMC to substitute for the nonverbal emotional cues that speakers and listeners rely on in face-to-face conversation. Our analysis of the online forum for a course called Presidential Election Rhetoric illustrates not only that students use linguistic features to express emotion but also that they transmit emotion to one another through the use of these features. Additionally, we suggest that students’ unfamiliarity expressing emotion subtly and accurately using linguistic features contributes to the quality of ranting in CMC. Finally, we recommend specific strategies to help students further hone their skills at expressing and perceiving emotion in CMC.     

Contingency management and levodopa-carbidopa for cocaine treatment: A comparison of three behavioral targets.

New data support use of levodopa pharmacotherapy with behavioral contingency management (CM) as one efficacious combination in cocaine dependence disorder treatment. A potential mechanism of the combined treatment effects may be related to dopamine-induced enhancement of the saliency of contingently delivered reinforcers. Evidence to support this mechanism was sought by evaluating levodopa-enhancing effects across distinct CM conditions that varied in behavioral targets. A total of 136 treatment-seeking, cocaine dependent subjects participated in this 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of levodopa (vs. placebo) administered in combination with one of three behavioral CM conditions. In the CM-URINE condition, subjects received cash-valued vouchers contingent on cocaine-negative urine toxicology results. In the CM-ATTEND condition, the same voucher schedule was contingent on attending thrice weekly clinic visits. In the CM-MEDICATION condition, the same voucher schedule was contingent on Medication Event Monitoring Systems- and riboflavin-based evidence of pill-taking behavior. Primary outcomes associated with each CM target behavior were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models for repeated outcomes. CM responding in the CM-ATTEND and CM-MEDICATION conditions showed orderly effects, with each condition producing corresponding changes in targeted behaviors, regardless of medication condition. In contrast, CM responding in the CM-URINE condition was moderated by medication, with levodopa-treated subjects more likely to submit cocaine-negative urines. These findings specify the optimal target behavior for CM when used in combination with levodopa pharmacotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Design‐based life cycle assessment of hazardous air pollutant control options at pulp and paper mills: a comparison of thermal oxidation to photocatalytic oxidation and biofiltration

BACKGROUND: The forest products industry produces valuable industrial chemicals, wood products, and consumer goods, but is also responsible for the emission of significant quantities of hazardous air pollutants. Although many air pollution control options are available, little is known about the overall environmental impacts of implementing each option. Therefore, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to compare energy and raw material inputs, air emissions, and environmental impacts associated with construction and operation of two air pollution control systems: regenerative thermal oxidation (RTO) with wet scrubbing and photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) with biofiltration. RESULTS: LCA results indicated that environmental impacts to resource depletion, photochemical oxidant formation, and acidification were 20% higher for the use of a RTO‐scrubber than for the PCO‐biofilter. In addition, at least 25% of the RTO impacts were due to infrastructure requirements. However, the PCO‐biofilter system was responsible for more environmental impact in categories of global warming and human toxicity, because of the packing materials required and the electricity use for the PCO reactor. CONCLUSIONS: The PCO‐biofilter system could be a promising, environmentally‐friendly alternative to traditional RTO devices, provided that this system is modified to decrease resource and energy demands. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Variation in the human lipidome associated with coffee consumption as revealed by quantitative targeted metabolomics

The effect of coffee consumption on human health is still discussed controversially. Here, we report results from a metabolomics study of coffee consumption, where we measured 363 metabolites in blood serum of 284 male participants of the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg study population, aged between 55 and 79 years. A statistical analysis of the association of metabolite concentrations and the number of cups of coffee consumed per day showed that coffee intake is positively associated with two classes of sphingomyelins, one containing a hydroxy‐group (SM(OH)) and the other having an additional carboxy‐group (SM(OH,COOH)). In contrast, long‐ and medium‐chain acylcarnitines were found to decrease with increasing coffee consumption. It is noteworthy that the concentration of total cholesterol also rises with an increased coffee intake in this study group. The association observed here between these hydroxylated and carboxylated sphingolipid species and coffee intake may be induced by changes in the cholesterol levels. Alternatively, these molecules may act as scavengers of oxidative species, which decrease with higher coffee intake. In summary, we demonstrate strong positive associations between coffee consumption and two classes of sphingomyelins and a negative association between coffee consumption and long‐ and medium‐chain acylcarnitines.