Motivated sensitivity to preference-inconsistent information.

If preference-inconsistent information initiates more effortful cognitive analysis than does preference-consistent information, then people should be more sensitive processors of information they do not want to believe than of information they do want to believe. Three studies supported this prediction. Study 1 found that inferences drawn from favorable interpersonal feedback revealed a correspondence bias, whereas inferences drawn from unfavorable feedback were sensitive to situational constraint. Study 2 showed this sensitivity to the quality of unfavorable feedback to disappear under cognitive load. Study 3 showed that evaluations of the accuracy of favorable medical diagnoses were insensitive to the probability of alternative explanation, whereas evaluations of unfavorable diagnoses were sensitive to probability information. The importance of adaptive considerations in theories of motivated reasoning is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental system for evaluation of well-defined catalysts on nonporous electrodes in realistic DMFC environment

This paper reports on an experimental setup wich enables us to investigate planar model catalysts in an environment closely resembling the environment found in an actual direct methanol fuel cell. The working electrodes were nano-structured catalyst particles immobilised on planar supports, reducing many of the commonly present non-catalyst related effects in conventional porous electrodes. Colloidal lithography was used for nano-structuring the samples. Nafion was used as electrolyte. Results are presented for the oxidation of methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid and carbon monoxide at temperatures between 30 and 70 ° C on Pt particles supported on glassy carbon disks.     

Immunobiosensor determination of β-agonists in urine using integrated immunofiltration clean-up

A fast immunobiosensor assay for screening of β‐agonists in urine, using integrated immunofiltration clean‐up with 30 kDa cutoff centrifugal filter, was developed. The same antibody aliquot was used for clean‐up and biosensor analysis, and no organic solvent was needed. Matrix interference from urine was efficiently reduced. Two antibodies with different cross‐reactivities were compared. Although both antibodies were able to detect clenbuterol (CBL) below 1 ng mL^?1, a polyclonal antibody directed against salbutamol was chosen because of its ability to recover several β‐agonists. The decision limit (CCα) of the final assay was 0.29 ng mL^?1, and an α‐error of 1% gave a β‐error of <1% for twenty reference bovine samples spiked with 1 ng mL^?1 CBL.     

In the presence of your absence: The treatment of older families with a cancer patient.

Describes the psychotherapeutic strategies used in treating older couples in which one member has cancer. Structural family therapy was the primary treatment modality. The therapeutic issues reviewed are cancer as a special crisis in the developmental life cycle, styles of coping, aging, and countertransference around aging and death. Case illustrations are presented to exemplify the problems of illness in old age, inflexible response to stress, and mutual withdrawal. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Caveat lectorp.

A. G. Greenwald's (see record 1980-24373-001) analysis of the totalitarian ego presents an unrecognizable picture of men and women. Greenwald's world is one in which intrapsychic conflict has no place in normal people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adrenocortical response to hypertonic saline in rats with lateral hypothalamic lesions.

Used plasma corticosterone levels to assess the response to stress induced by ip injections of hypertonic saline in 27 male albino Harlan-Sprague rats with lateral hypothalamic (LH) or sham lesions. Ss with LH lesions displayed a corticosterone response equal to that of normal Ss under basal conditions, after control injections of isotonic saline, and 20 min after injection of hypertonic saline (1.5 M, 1.0 ml/100 g of body weight). The corticosterone response of Ss with LH lesions, however, was significantly less than that of normal Ss 90 min after injection of hypertonic saline when no water was available. With access to water, normal Ss displayed substantial drinking (14.5 ml/90 min), which resulted in a reduction in plasma corticosterone concentrations to a level observed after a control injection of isotonic saline, but the little water ingested by Ss with LH lesions (2.5 ml) had no effect on the pituitary-adrenal system. It is concluded that the failure of Ss with LH lesions to drink following a hydrational challenge is not the result of an exaggerated response to stress. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elaboration d'un instrument de mesure des habiletés socio-cognitives chez l'enfant de cinq à dix ans.

To assess social cognitive skills in children, a special test was constructed with cognitive and linguistic demands adapted to young children. The test consisted of 4 tasks that were submitted to 200 children, aged 5–10 yrs. Three tasks were devised to measure cognitive role-taking and the 4th to measure referential communication. Results show a significant increase in performance with age for each task and a significant increasing order of difficulty in the tasks. Thus, each task corresponded to specific levels in the development of role-taking skills. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-schemas and gender.

Examined the information processing consequences of self-schemas about gender in 2 studies (467 undergraduates). Systematic differences in cognitive performance were observed among Ss identified as masculine schematics, feminine schematics, low androgynous, and high androgynous (Bem Sex-Role Inventory). Feminine schematics remembered more feminine than masculine attributes, endorsed more feminine qualities, required shorter processing times for "me" judgments to these attributes, were more confident of their judgments, and were able to supply relatively more examples of past feminine than masculine behavior. A parallel pattern of results was found for masculine stimuli in masculine schematics. Androgynous Ss recalled as many masculine as feminine attributes and did not differentiate between masculine and feminine attributes with respect to latency or confidence. Comparison of the 2 groups of androgynous Ss shows that only low androgynous Ss should be considered aschematic with respect to gender. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)