Classroom learning environments and effective schooling.

Reviews the research on psychosocial aspects of classroom environment by outlining economical, hand-scorable classroom environment instruments (i.e., Classroom Environment Scale, Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire, a class inventory developed by the present author and colleagues [1982]) and describing their past uses. Studies on the effects of classroom environment on student outcomes, use of environment variables as process criteria in evaluating educational innovations, and teachers' practical attempts to use learning environment assessments to guide improvements in classrooms are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual primitives from an extended 4D Hough transform

Directional features extracted from Gabor wavelets responses were used to train a structure of self-organising maps, thus classifying each pixel in the image within a neuron-map. Resulting directional primitives were grouped into perceptual primitives introducing an extended 4D Hough transform to group pixels with similar directional features. These can then be used as perceptual primitives to detect salient structures. The proposed method has independently fixed parameters that do not need to be tuned for different kind or quality of images. We present results in application to noisy FLIR images and show that line primitives for complex structures, such as bridges, or simple structures, such as runways, can be found by this approach. We compare and demonstrate the quality of our results with those obtained through a parameter-dependent traditional Canny edge detector and Hough line finding process.     

THE EARLY TO "MIDDLE" CRETACEOUS LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE CENTRAL NORTH SEA (UK SECTOR)

A revised lithostratigraphical framework of the Early to "Middle" Cretaceous strata of the Central North Sea (UK sector) derived from the rigorous examination of more than 100 commercial boreholes is presented. previously published frameworks have tended toward oversimplification of the Early to "Middle" Cretaceous, as the interval was considered initially to be of minor importance with regard to prospectivity. However_: there is a general feeling in the industry that the Early to "Middle" Cretaceous is prospective. particularly with regard to subtle stratigraphical traps like the Kilda/Bosun and Scapa fields. It is inevitable that as more attention, due to hydrocarbon exploration, is paid to an interval that the stratigraphical models used progress from the simplistic to the complex. The framework presented here is the result of a pragmatic approach in that it is based upon the integration of previously published schemes. with the erection of new units derived from new analyses and interpretation. The complete lithostratigraphical framework is defined. explained and discussed with reference to borehole examples in the Central North Sea .     

Gender and representation in psychotherapy.

Investigated the ways in which patient and therapist gender influence the nature of patients' internalized representations of their therapist and the therapeutic relationship. A sample of 66 patients (29 males) completed the Therapist Representation Inventory (J. D. Geller et al, 1982), a self-report instrument designed to assess discrete properties of evoked representations. Results indicated widespread similarities between male and female patients in terms of the forms with which representations are evoked and the themes embodied in these representations. The differences that emerged suggest that women are more likely to keep their therapists in mind (and for longer periods of time) when working on their problems outside of therapy and that women with male therapists are especially likely to daydream about therapy and acknowledge missing their therapist in between sessions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The UCLA Multidimensional Condom Attitudes Scale: Documenting the complex determinants of condom use in college students.

Describes the development and validation of the UCLA Multidimensional Condom Attitudes Scale (MCAS). The relationships between the MCAS and gender, sexual experience, intentions to use a condom, and past condom use were assessed. The MCAS has 5 distinct factors: (1) Reliability and Effectiveness of condoms, (2) the sexual Pleasure associated with condom use, (3) the stigma attached to persons who use condoms (Identity Stigma), (4) the Embarrassment About Negotiation and Use of condoms, and (5) the Embarrassment About the Purchase of condoms. Results strongly suggest that condom attitudes are multidimensional and thus cannot meaningfully be summed to a single global score. Results further indicate that men and women hold very different attitudes toward condoms. Implications of scale multidimensionality and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family burden following traumatic brain injury.

Investigated burden experienced by 60 spouses and 71 parents who served as primary caregivers to individuals with traumatic brain injury (BI). Burden levels, as assessed by the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS-SF), were compared for spouses and parents. Both parents and spouses exhibited high levels of burden. Relative to spouses, parents reported significantly greater burden related to lifespan care. Spouses reported significantly less personal reward than did parents. The presence of social aggression and cognitive disability in the individual with BI was found to have a greater association with subjective burden of caregivers than was the presence of physical disability or injury severity. Results of previous studies with QRS-SF scores show that the responsibility assumed by spouses and parents of persons with BI was as great as that experienced by families of people with severe chronic physical disabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance of Alamouti transmit diversity over time-varying Rayleigh-fading channels

We analyze the impact of a time-varying Rayleigh-fading channel on the performance of an Alamouti transmit-diversity scheme. We propose several optimal and suboptimal detection strategies for mitigating the effects of a time-varying channel, and derive expressions for their bit-error probability as a function of the channel correlation coefficient /spl rho/. We find that the maximum-likelihood detector that optimally compensates for the time-varying channel is very tolerant to time-varying fading, attaining full diversity order even for the extreme case of /spl rho/=0. In contrast, although lower in complexity, the suboptimal schemes suffer a diversity penalty and are thus suitable only for slowly fading channels.     

Re-examination of residual arousal as an explanation of aftereffects: Frustration tolerance versus response speed.

Three experiments, with 98 undergraduates, investigated the effects of increasing task difficulty and noise intensity on postnoise persistence on the Feather tolerance for frustration puzzles. In Exp I, greater persistence occurred both after exposure to moderate noise levels (55 db [A]) and an easy perceptual-motor task and after high noise levels (90 db [A]) and a more difficult task. The same pattern of persistence was obtained in Exp II, with more attempts to solve the Feather puzzles occurring after moderate noise and an easy cognitive task and after loud noise and a more difficult cognitive task. In Exp III, a modified Feather task was presented with instructions to determine solvability. A similar U-shaped relationship was obtained, with longer correct response times to unsolvable puzzles following low noise and high noise. Such aftereffect patterns are more easily explained as the result of residual arousal than of frustration tolerance. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Book review

Published in 1989, 585 pages, $180; Available from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 345 East 47th St., Publication Sales Department, New York, NY 10017.