Freedom and the cognitive mind.

In this speech, the author discusses cognitive needs in behavior, not only in the learning of the rat, but also in the behavior of the professor, with the significance of this factor to questions of academic freedom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's critical about Kritische Psychologie?.

Provides a brief introduction to West German Kritische Psychologie (critical psychology) by describing its history and its attempt to (1) reconstruct the basic psychological categories using an evolutionary/genetic method and (2) provide a rational, objective, and unambiguous foundation for theory building and extending psychological knowledge. Some new and revised categories of the critical psychological reconstruction are discussed, including action potential as it relates to need and cognition, emotion, and motivation. The methodological implications of this school of thought and its impact on psychological practice are addressed. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social connectedness and mothering: Effects of maternal employment and maternal absence.

We conducted two separate studies to test N. Chodorow's (1978) theory concerning the relationship between mothering and social connectedness, that is, a sense of self in relation to others. In two correlational studies, we examined the effects of maternal employment and maternal absence (because of death or divorce) on young adults' social connectedness, as measured by the Interpersonal Orientation (IO) Scale (W. C. Swap and J. Z. Rubin; see record 1983-22471-001). Although differences in maternal employment were not related to IO, maternal absence was related to IO. Daughters whose mothers had been absent since the daughters' early childhood rated themselves lowest on IO; this was especially true of daughters who did not report having a mother substitute. This finding provides support for Chodorow's theory because it documents a predicted sex difference, a predicted effect of "mothering" versus "fathering," and a predicted difference between early (i.e., preoedipal) and later absence. Future empirical work on moderators of child-rearing experience is warranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Naming the mind: How psychology found its language.

Reviews the book, Naming the mind: How psychology found its language by Kurt Danziger (see record 1997-97355-000). The language of our scientific beliefs and practices is like the air we breathe. We need to be reminded that it is there, doing things for us and to us. It constitutes what, we purport to study and thus ought to be as much the object of our investigations as the phenomena it describes. Yet like the air we breathe, our language is taken so for granted as to be all but invisible. It often takes a stroke of genius to make us conscious of it. There have been many books recently on psychological discourse, but none, in my view, as revealing as Naming the Mind. It should be required reading for all who wish to call themselves psychologists. We owe it to ourselves and to those we study to be fully aware of the social-historical relativity of our basic categories. This book offers an effective contribution toward this essential form of self-reflectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hydrothermal synthesis of silicon oxide clad uranium oxide nanowires

A facile method to synthesize silicon oxide clad uranium oxide nanowires is presented. U₃Si₂, used as a precursor, was oxidized to produce uranium oxide nanocrystallites and amorphous silicon oxide under hydrothermal conditions at 300°C and a pressure of 7.8 × 10⁶ Pa. The growth of uranium oxide nanowires was assisted by silicon oxide via assembling the uranium oxide nanocrystallites in an amorphous silicon oxide matrix. The microstructure and composition of silicon oxide clad uranium oxide nanowires were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, and EDS. The uranium oxide in the nanowires was determined as UO_2.34 with a fluoride cubic structure.