Icons improve older and younger adults' comprehension of medication information

We examined whether timeline icons improved older and younger adults' comprehension of medication information. In Experiment 1, comprehension of instructions with the icon (icon/text format) and without the icon (text-only format) was assessed by questions about information that was (a) implicit in the text but depicted explicitly by the icon (total dose in a 24 hour period), (b) stated and depicted in the icon/text condition (medication dose and times), and (c) stated but not depicted by the icon (e.g., side effects). In a separate task, participants also recalled medication instructions (with or without the icon) after a study period. We found that questions about dose and time information were answered more quickly and accurately when the icon was present in the instructions. Notably, icon benefits were greater for information that was implicit rather than stated in the text. This finding suggests that icons can improve older and younger adults' comprehension by reducing the need to draw some inferences. The icon also reduced effective study time (study time per item recalled). In Experiment 2, icon benefits did not occur for a less integrated version of the timeline icon that, like the text, required participants to integrate dose and time information in order to identify the total daily dose. The integrated version of the icon again improved comprehension, as in Experiment 1, as well as drawing inferences from memory. These findings show that integrated timeline icons improved comprehension primarily by aiding the integration of dose and time information. These findings are discussed in terms of a situation model approach to comprehension.     

The use of adaptive grid refinement for badly behaved elliptic partial differential equations

Adaptive grid refinement is potentially a very powerful means of dealing with singularities and other types of misbehavior in the solutions of elliptic partial differential equations. Combined with the multi-level iterative technique for solving the matrix equations, the method can be implemented in a reasonably efficient fashion.     

Role of physical abnormalities in interpersonal perception and behavior.

Explores the impact of physical abnormalities on interpersonal relationships and investigates 1 technique available to the stigmatized to influence that impact. This technique is to indicate that the abnormality may be freely discussed or that it is a forbidden topic. The 60 male undergraduate Ss were introduced to an ostensibly naive student who was in reality a confederate and appeared either as an amputee in a wheelchair or as only slightly crippled. The shocks Ss were induced to administer the confederate were less painful when he was severely than when he was slightly crippled. It was concluded that all stigmata do not have the same interpersonal consequences and that the most marked effects occur for behaviors of which Ss have little awareness. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cadmium sulfide and cadmium selenide/cadmium sulfide nanoparticles stabilized in water with poly(cysteine acrylamide)

Cysteine acrylamide (N-acryloyl L-cysteine) stabilizes CdS nanoparticles as the particles form in aqueous dispersions. Cysteine acrylamide also exchanges for citrate on the surfaces of CdSe and core/shell CdSe/CdS nanoparticles to provide greater stability. Heating of the nanoparticle dispersions polymerizes the cysteine acrylamide on the surface to form a more efficient polydentate stabilizer. The polymer-coated nanoparticle dispersions are colloidally stable even after removal of low molecular weight solutes by dialysis. Emission quantum yields of the polymer-coated CdSe and CdSe/CdS samples were 0.9% and 2.6%, respectively, after aging of the samples in light. CdSe/CdS coated with poly(cysteine acrylamide) is colloidally stable for at least two years in the dark at 5 degrees C.     

Multiple-dial check reading: Pointer symmetry compared with uniform alignment.

24 Ss participated in two experiments in which they were required to pick out, from printed panels containing 16 dials, the dial with a deviating pointer. Two versions of a uniformly-aligned configuration and one version of a symmetrically-aligned configuration were studied. S was required to identify both the "different" dial and the direction of the deviating pointer. It was found that (1) both configurations were equally effective for check reading after extended practice, (2) early in practice symmetrical alignment configurations appear to be more difficult, (3) transfer effects from pointer symmetry to uniform alignment are greater than transfer effects in the other direction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Residential mobility, self-concept, and positive affect in social interactions.

The present research examined (a) the link between personal history of residential mobility and the self-concept and (b) the implications of such a link for positive affect in social interactions. Study 1 showed that the personal self was more central to the self-definition of frequent movers than to that of nonmovers, whereas the collective self was more central to the self-definition of nonmovers than to that of frequent movers. Results from a laboratory and a 2-week event sampling study (Studies 2 and 3) demonstrated that frequent movers felt happier when an interaction partner accurately perceived their personal selves, whereas nonmovers felt happier when a partner accurately perceived their collective selves. These findings present the first direct evidence on how personal history of residential mobility is linked to important individual differences in the self and positive affect in social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization and communication in the face of prejudice: When describing perceptions changes what is perceived.

In the face of prejudice against an ingroup, common ground for communication exists when people use similar social categories to understand the situation. Three studies tested the hypothesis that describing perceptions of prejudice can fundamentally change those perceptions because communicators account for the common ground in line with conversational norms. When women (Study 1), African Americans (Study 2), and Americans (Study 3) simply thought about suspected prejudice against their ingroup, categorization guided their perceptions: Participants assimilated their views of the prejudiced event toward the perceptions of ingroup members but contrasted away from the perceptions of outgroup members. Conversely, when participants described their perceptions, they contrasted away from the given category information and actually arrived at the opposite perceptions as those who merely thought about the prejudiced event. Study 3 identified an important qualification of these effects by showing that they were obtained only when participants could assume their audience was familiar with the common ground. Implications are discussed for understanding the role of communication in facilitating and inhibiting collective action about prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)