Seeing Black: Race, Crime, and Visual Processing.

Using police officers and undergraduates as participants, the authors investigated the influence of stereotypic associations on visual processing in 5 studies. Study 1 demonstrates that Black faces influence participants' ability to spontaneously detect degraded images of crime-relevant objects. Conversely, Studies 2-4 demonstrate that activating abstract concepts (i.e., crime and basketball) induces attentional biases toward Black male faces. Moreover, these processing biases may be related to the degree to which a social group member is physically representative of the social group (Studies 4-5). These studies, taken together, suggest that some associations between social groups and concepts are bidirectional and operate as visual tuning devices--producing shifts in perception and attention of a sort likely to influence decision making and behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Edible table (bio)spread containing potentially probiotic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species

A prototype of a reduced fat (60% w/w) edible table biospread, with an added viable, nongrowing, mixed-strain and potentially probiotic culture was developed. Conventional commercial aqueous-phase ingredient and reduced fat spread processing technologies were modified to achieve acceptable strain viability ( ≥   10⁵ cfu/mL) during scraped-surface heat exchange emulsion processing and biospread shelf life. The modifications consisted of:

• 1

   spilt-stream pasteurization of the aqueous and lipid phases (thereby obviating the need for in-line pasteurization of the water-in-oil emulsion during processing);

       

Online recruiting: The effects of organizational familiarity, website usability, and website attractiveness on viewers’ impressions of organizations

Previous research on Internet recruitment has made the implicit assumption that recruitment websites influence viewers’ opinions of recruiting organizations. This study tested this assumption using a pretest/posttest design. Findings revealed that participants’ organizational favorability, image as employer, and organizational attractiveness perceptions were affected by their viewing of organizational recruitment websites. Greater increases in favorable organizational evaluations from the pretest measures to the posttest measures occurred with organizations maintaining websites that were easy to navigate and/or that were appealing. Contrary to predictions made by signaling theory, recruitment websites had similar effects on the organizational impressions of all individuals, regardless of their familiarity with the organizations maintaining the recruitment websites that they viewed.     

Limnological characteristics, eutrophication and cyanobacterial blooms in an inland reservoir, Australia

Ben Chifley Reservoir, the only potable water supply for Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, has been experiencing recurrent cyanobacterial bloom problems since 1991. A study was undertaken from June 1998 to July 1999 to assess the limnological characteristics pertinent to eutrophication and the associated cyanobacterial blooms. From January–May 1999, the reservoir exhibited significant numbers of cyanobacterial cells, totalling > 9000 cells mL^?1. The highest number of cells (> 27 000 cells mL^?1) was recorded during April 1999. The water quality characteristics of the reservoir, and the river inflow and climatic data, were grouped into three distinct periods; before, during and after cyanobacterial blooms. High water temperature (15–22°C), thermal stratification (ΔT = 2.7–2.8°C), depletion of dissolved oxygen and high nutrient concentrations, all of which are conducive to enhanced cyanobacterial blooms, were evident before and during the bloom periods. Based on its nitrogen to phosphorus molar ratio, Ben Chifley Reservoir can be considered as being phosphorus‐deficient, in contrast to nitrogen, which is readily available from a number of sources in its drainage basin, including atmospheric fixation. Thus, it is recommended that adopting management strategies to reduce the quantity of bioavailable phosphorus in the reservoir would be the most effective way to minimize the occurrence of algal blooms.     

Age differences in young children's responses to open-ended invitations in the course of forensic interviews.

To elucidate age differences in responses to free-recall prompts (i.e., invitations and cued invitations) and focused recognition prompts (i.e., option-posing and suggestive utterances), the authors examined 130 forensic interviews of 4- to 8-year-old alleged victims of sexual abuse. There were age differences in the total number of details elicited as well as in the number of details elicited using each of the different types of prompts, especially invitations. More details were elicited from older than from younger children in response to all types of prompts, but there were no age differences in the proportion of details (about 50%) elicited using invitations. Cued invitations elicited 18% of the total details, and the number of details elicited using cued invitations increased with age. Action-based cues consistently elicited more details than other types of cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Review of the Miscibility of Polyethylene Blends

This article reviews the current understanding of the miscibility of binary blends composed of polyethylenes, including high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and linear low-density polyethylenes prepared with the use of Ziegler-Natta and metallocene catalysts. It has been generally found that differences in branch contents of two polyethylenes is the major factor that governs their miscibility while differences in molecular weight averages, molecular weight distribution, and branch length (within a length of six carbons) are secondary. However, the presence of a few long chain branches could induce immiscibility in the blends.     

"Selfobject" Needs in Kohut's Self Psychology: Links With Attachment, Self-Cohesion, Affect Regulation, and Adjustment.

Seven studies examined the validity and usefulness of central constructs in Kohut's self psychology: selfobject needs for mirroring, idealization, and twinship and avoidance of acknowledging these needs. These constructs were assessed with a new self-report measure that was found to be reliable, valid, and empirically linked with a variety of constructs in contemporary personality and social psychology. The findings supported and refined Kohut's ideas about the independence of the 3 selfobject needs, the orthogonality between these needs and defensive attempts to avoid acknowledging them, the motivational bases of narcissism, and the contribution of selfobject needs to problems in interpersonal functioning, mental health, self-cohesion, and affect regulation. The findings reveal mutually beneficial conceptual links between Kohut's self psychology and attachment theory and suggest ways in which Kohut's theory can be studied empirically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power and sensitivity of alternative fit indices in tests of measurement invariance.

Confirmatory factor analytic tests of measurement invariance (MI) based on the chi-square statistic are known to be highly sensitive to sample size. For this reason, G. W. Cheung and R. B. Rensvold (2002) recommended using alternative fit indices (AFIs) in MI investigations. In this article, the authors investigated the performance of AFIs with simulated data known to not be invariant. The results indicate that AFIs are much less sensitive to sample size and are more sensitive to a lack of invariance than chi-square-based tests of MI. The authors suggest reporting differences in comparative fit index (CFI) and R. P. McDonald's (1989) noncentrality index (NCI) to evaluate whether MI exists. Although a general value of change in CFI (.002) seemed to perform well in the analyses, condition specific change in McDonald's NCI values exhibited better performance than a single change in McDonald's NCI value. Tables of these values are provided as are recommendations for best practices in MI testing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol use disorders and cognitive abilities in young adulthood: A prospective study.

The effect of alcohol use disorder (AUD) on cognitive and neuropsychological abilities was investigated in a prospective study of 68 freshmen who met past-year criteria for AUD on 2 or more occasions during their college years and 66 matched controls. At baseline, participants were administered a total of 14 subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Revised, Wechsler Memory Scale, and Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery. At 7-year follow-up, most measures were readministered, along with the Reflective Judgment Interview, Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, and Plant Test. Analyses revealed few differenced between AUD and control groups. However, visuospatial deficits may be present among AUD participants with poor baseline visuospatial performance. Alcohol exposure measures yielded similar patterns to those shown with AUD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lloyd Girton Humphreys (1913-2003).

Obituary for psychologist educator Lloyd Girton Humphreys (1913-2003). Among other things, the obituary reports that Lloyd helped to form the organizing committee that established the Psychonomic Society in 1959. Lloyd was also involved in several efforts toward the enhancement of graduate education in psychology. In 1964, he chaired a meeting of the Council of Chairmen of Graduate Departments of Psychology, and he was elected the first chairman of the resulting organization--which later became the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology. Also, Lloyd was actively involved in advocating for the designation of the doctor of psychology (PsyD) degree, against rather considerable opposition from some other members of the academic community. He was a member of the 1963 American Psychological Association Committee on the Scientific and Professional Aims of Psychology that ultimately proposed the initiation of the PsyD in 1967, and as department head, Lloyd was instrumental in helping D. R. Peterson start the first PsyD program at the University of Illinois in 1968. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)