Choosing the Path to Bargaining Power: An Empirical Comparison of BATNAs and Contributions in Negotiation.

Although the negotiations literature identifies a variety of approaches for improving one's power position, the relative benefits of these approaches remain largely unexplored. The empirical study presented in this article begins to address this issue by examining how the size of the bargaining zone affects the relative benefit of an advantage in one's BATNA (i.e., having a better alternative than one's counterpart) versus contribution (i.e., contributing more to the relationship than one's counterpart) for negotiator performance. Results indicate that whereas BATNAs exerted a stronger effect on resource allocations than contributions when the bargaining zone was small, an advantage in contributions exerted a stronger effect on resource allocations than BATNAs when the bargaining zone was large. These findings provide needed insight and supporting evidence for how to alter one's power relationship in negotiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and smoking in adolescence: A test of directional hypotheses.

The authors conducted a comparative test of the hypotheses that (a) stress is an etiological factor for smoking and (b) cigarette smoking causes increases in stress (A. C. Parrott, 1999). Participants were a sample of 1,364 adolescents, initially surveyed at mean age 12.4 years and followed at 3 yearly intervals. Measures of negative affect, negative life events, and cigarette smoking were obtained at all 4 assessments. Latent growth modeling showed negative affect was related to increase in smoking over time; there was no path from initial smoking to change in negative affect. Comparable results were found for negative life events, with no evidence for reverse causation. Results are discussed with respect to theoretical models of nicotine effects and implications for prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IMing, Text Messaging, and Adolescent Social Networks

Building on previous research in computer-mediated communication, social and communication networks, and adolescent development, this article raises three issues regarding adolescent use of socially interactive technologies (SITs) and their relationship to offline social networks: 1) whether adolescents are creating more, but weaker ties using SITs, 2) to what extent adolescent SIT-facilitated networks overlap with friendship networks, and 3) whether SIT relationships are important for adolescents who have fewer offline peer ties. In order to investigate these questions, network data collection and analysis were integrated with more traditional questionnaire methodology and statistical analysis. The results show that the adolescents in the study were not creating more ties using SITs, nor were they necessarily creating weaker SIT-based ties; that there was little overlap between SIT-facilitated and offline social networks; and that socially isolated adolescents were less likely than other adolescents to use SITs.     

Ami: promoting a quantitative approach to software management

In this paper we first review the state of the art in software measurement. We then explain how measurement should be used in a goal-oriented manner in project management and describe the ami (application of metrics in industry) approach to achieving this. Finally we consider the ami project as an example of successful technology transfer and look at the variety of tactics used for dissemination of the approach in response to the needs of today's growing software measurement community.     

Relations between prenatal testosterone levels and cognitive abilities at 4 years.

Relations between prenatal testosterone (T) levels and cognitive abilities at age 4 were examined for 28 girls and 30 boys. Prenatal T levels were measured in 2nd trimester amniotic fluid samples obtained by amniocentesis and were examined in relation to scores on tests of cognitive abilities. For girls, prenatal T levels showed a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relation to language comprehension and classification abilities. Linear relations also were observed in that prenatal T levels were inversely related to girls' scores on tasks assessing counting and number facts. Similarly, girls with high average block building scores had lower prenatal T and cognitive abilities were not observed. The observation of relations in girls and not boys is discussed, and the findings are examined in relation to theories of hormone-behavior relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dielectric anomalies related to domain walls in ferroelectric CsD2AsO4

Dielectric measurements of CsD₂AsO₄ confirm the observations of Sidorkin et al. [Sov. Phys. Sol. St. 26, 1910 (1984)] that a peak 15-25K below T_c is present and probably due to wall effects involving pinning by H-ions. However, our values for both T_c and the temperature T_W of the wall anomaly are ≈30k higher than those of the Soviet work. Our value of T_C = 224K agrees with that of Loiacono et al. [Ferroelectrics 14, 761 (1976)]. This higher transition temperature is probably due to a higher D-concentration (∼85%) than is present in the Soviet specimens.     

Effects of brief exposure to symbolic model behavior on the information-processing strategies of internally and externally oriented children.

Conducted a study with 120 externally and 120 internally oriented 4th graders (as measured by the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale) to examine the modifiability of children's information-processing strategies. Ss observed a constraint-seeking model or a change (contrasting response patterns) model which provided either minimal or augmented verbal cues and associated reinforcement contingencies. Ss in augmented modeling conditions required fewer questions to reach a solution and asked a higher proportion of constraint-seeking questions relative to the nonaugmented and no-model control groups. The effects of augmentation were more pronounced for the constraint-seeking than for the change model. Internals in augmented conditions required fewer questions to solution and asked a higher proportion of constraint-seeking questions than did externals, but there were no significant differences between internals and externals in nonaugmented conditions. The major findings on the immediate posttest were maintained on a transfer task administered 1 wk later, demonstrating the short-term stability and generality of the modeling effects. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Apoptosis: regulation and relevance to toxicology

1. Apoptosis is a remarkably stereotyped morphological event across all tissues in response to a vast array of damaging agents. 2. Our very existence depends upon a willing exchange of old life for new: apoptotic cell death is our guardian and saviour from genetic damage. 3. There is a close link between cell proliferation and apoptosis: When a cell picks up the machinery to proliferate it also acquires an abort pathway--'better dead than wrong'. 4. A wide variety of highly conserved genes have been implicated in triggering apoptosis. 5. The release of DNA loops from the nuclear scaffold is a more crucial intracellular event than DNA 'laddering' in apoptotic cells. 6. The manipulation of apoptotic rates in many of the common diseases in man will be a major therapeutic strategy in the future.     

A controlled comparison of thermal biofeedback and relaxation training in the treatment of essential hypertension: II. Effects on cardiovascular reactivity.

Compared progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), thermal biofeedback (BFB), and drug withdrawal (DW) as possible substitutes for 2nd-stage (sympatholytic) antihypertensive medications, using 73 hypertensive adults. Reactivity (heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure) to 3 stressors (mental arithmetic, cold pressor, and negative mental imagery) was measured before and after PMR, BFB, and DW. PMR led to more reductions in some aspect of reactivity than did BFB. Reductions in reactivity were seen more for mental arithmetic and systolic blood pressure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)