Recursive retrospective revaluation of causal judgments.

Recursive causal evaluation is an iterative process in which the evaluation of a target cause, T, is based on the outcome of the evaluation of another cause, C, the evaluation of which itself depends on the evaluation of a 3rd cause, D. Retrospective revaluation consists of backward processing of information as indicated by the fact that the evaluation of T is influenced by subsequent information that is not concerned with T directly. Two experiments demonstrate recursive retrospective revaluation with contingency information presented in list format as well as with trial-by-trial acquisition. Existing associative models are unable to predict the results. The model of recursive causal disambiguation that conceptualizes the revaluation as a recursive process of disambiguation predicts the pattern of results correctly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

LOOKING AT NATIONAL SYSTEMS OF INNOVATION FROM THE SOUTH

This paper deals with national systems of innovation (NSIs) from a Latin American perspective. It begins by looking into the related conceptualization elaborated in the North with a "Southern head", stressing some characteristics of the NSIs concept that are helpful to understand Southern specificity: its ex-post nature, the normative weight it carries, its "relational" features, the fact that it describes a purposeful policy subject and not only an outcome of evolutionary patterns. Then the paper describes some contextual differences between Latin America and the developed nations in terms of the NSIs conceptualization. This is followed by an abbreviated account of empirical findings gathered from recent innovation industrial surveys in Latin America. It also briefly describes some of the findings of a methodological attempt to construct a picture of the NSI in a small Latin American country, Uruguay. Finally, some lessons stemming from more mature systems of innovation are outlined.     

Languages, scripts, and the environment: Factors in developing concepts of print.

Preschool children bilingual in English and Hebrew were investigated for their understanding of concepts of print by means of two tasks. In the first, children had to understand that a printed word did not change its meaning if it moved to a new location. In the second, children had to make judgments about word length and ignore the size of the named objects. Previous research had shown bilingual French–English and Chinese–English children to excel in the first task, but only older Chinese–English bilinguals had an advantage in the second. The present study extended those results by investigating the effect of writing system in more detail. The study also examined the effect of the language of the environment by conducting parallel studies in environments in which either English or Hebrew was the community language. The results show that the bilingual children in both settings were more advanced than the monolinguals in both tasks and in both settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual short-term memory in the first year of life: Capacity and recency effects.

A span task was developed to assess the amount of information infants could hold in short-term memory. In this task, infants were presented with up to 4 items in succession and then tested for recognition by successively pairing each item with a novel one. A large sample of full-terms and low-birth-weight preterms (     

Neurobehavioral indicators of early brain insult in high-risk neonates.

Neurobehavioral (NB) performance was evaluated in 248 neurologically at-risk neonates at neonatal intensive care unit discharge to investigate the relation between behavior and brain insult. Six brain insult groups were defined on the basis of findings from cranial ultrasonography and brainstem auditory evoked response tests. The NB evaluation consisted of a modification and condensation of the Einstein Neonatal NB Assessment Scale and the assessment of activated motor patterns described by Katona. Logistic regression analysis of normal vs. abnormal judgments of behavioral categories revealed that, independent of the effects of prematurity, different patterns of NB abnormalities were associated with different degrees and types of brain insult. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Design of a selective digital filter using the decimation technique

The implementation of an Intermediate Frequency (IF) filter in Digital Audio-VIsual Council (DAVIC) compliant modems is a particularly complex task. In previous works, we compared the performance of different designs (analog and digital) for the radio-frequency stage in a modem application. These designs have been evaluated for a particular case defined in the DAVIC recommendation. The design limits that were pointed out are mainly due, in the digital approach, to the high frequencies at which the IF stage must operate, and to the variation of the sampling frequency.

In this paper, we propose a digital implementation of the IF filter based on the decimation technique. The evaluation of the performance has been performed using the PTOLEMY software from the Berkeley University.     

Computerized smoking cessation program for the worksite: Treatment outcome and feasibility.

This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a computer-delivered smoking cessation program for the worksite. 58 VA Medical Center employees were randomly assigned to a computer group (computerized nicotine fading and stop-smoking contest) or a contest-only group. In comparison with the contest-only group, the computer group had nonsignificantly higher abstinence rates across follow-up, had marginally lower CO levels at the 3- and 6-month follow-ups, and smoked cigarettes with lower nicotine levels at the 10-day and 6-month follow-ups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Users' perspectives on contraceptive technology and delivery systems highlighting some feminist issues

This paper presents a framework of feminist concerns through which to view the potential acceptability of new contraceptive technologies and family planning service delivery systems. It draws on knowledge of women's roles and status, particularly their power relations, in developing countries, acceptability and program research, and selected, more theoretical feminist perspectives.     

Relationship of racial stressors to blood pressure responses and anger expression in Black college students.

27 Black college students viewed 3 excerpts showing racist situations involving Blacks; anger-provoking, nonracist situations; and neutral situations. After each scene, blood pressure (BP) was taken; a mood checklist, the Framingham Anger Scale (S. Haynes et al; see PA, Vol 68:10702), and the Anger Expression Scale of C. Spielberger et al (1985) were administered. Analyses revealed that BP significantly increased during the presentation of racist stimuli but not of anger-provoking or neutral stimuli. Self-reports of state anger, as measured by the mood checklist, were significant for both the anger-provoking and racist stimuli. BP scores were significantly correlated to the 2 trait anger measures. Exposure to racist stimuli was associated with BP increases among Blacks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)