Psychology's essential role in alleviating the impacts of climate change.

Climate change is occurring: where is psychology? The conventional wisdom is that amelioration of the impacts of climate change is a matter for earth and ocean science, economics, technology, and policy-making. This article presents the basis for psychological science as a key part of the solution to the problem and describes the challenges to this both from within psychology and from other points of view. Minimising the personal and environmental damage caused by climate change necessarily is a multidisciplinary task, but one to which psychology not only should, but must contribute more than it has so far. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The professional psychology comprehensive examination: A comparison.

Surveyed 86 American Psychological Association (APA)-approved doctoral programs and 16 non-APA-accredited programs to determine current comprehensive examination practices. 79 APA-approved programs and 13 non-APA-approved programs had some form of qualifying exam. The majority of schools felt their assessment procedures were adequate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrically evoked acetylcholine release from hippocampal slices is inhibited by the cannabinoid receptor agonist, WIN 55212-2, and is potentiated by the cannabinoid antagonist, SR 141716A

This study examined the effect of the cannabinoid receptor agonist, WIN 55212-2, on the electrically evoked release of [14C]acetylcholine (ACh) from superfused brain slices from the hippocampus, a region with a high density of cannabinoid receptors. A comparison was also made with [14C]ACh release from the nucleus accumbens, which has relatively fewer cannabinoid receptors. In the hippocampal slices, WIN 55212-2 produced a dose-dependent inhibition of [14C]ACh release, with an EC50 of 0.03 microM and a maximal inhibition of 81% at 1 microM. In the nucleus accumbens slices, WIN 55212-2 produced a weak inhibition of [14C]ACh release, which did not quite reach statistical significance. The inhibition of electrically evoked hippocampal [14C]ACh release by WIN 55212-2 could be prevented by the cannabinoid receptor antagonist, SR 141716A (EC50, 0.3-1.0 microM). In addition to antagonizing the effects of WIN 55212-2, SR 141716A alone produced a 2-fold potentiation of the electrically stimulated [14C]ACh release in this region (EC50, 0.1-0.3 microM). By contrast, in nucleus accumbens slices, no potentiation of the stimulated release of [14C]ACh release by SR 141716A was observed. Basal [14C]ACh release was unaffected by WIN 55212-2 or SR 141716A in either area. These results suggest that cannabinoid receptor activation can produce a strong inhibition of ACh release in the hippocampus. Furthermore, the potentiation of ACh release in the hippocampus by SR 141716A alone suggests either that this compound is an inverse agonist at cannabinoid receptors or it is antagonizing the actions of an endogenous ligand acting on these receptors.     

Examination of affect and egotism as mediators of bias in causal attributions.

Investigated the relationship between affect and self-attributions following positive (P) and negative (N) behavioral outcomes. In the presence (high publicity) or absence (low publicity) of observers, 63 college students delivered therapeutic instructions that were expected to have a P or N effect and that resulted in a P or N effect on a supposedly phobic patient. Principal findings were that (a) Ss made greater attributions to self for P than for N outcomes; (b) both during and following performance, P outcome Ss reported more P and less N affect than did N outcome Ss; (c) both during and following performance, P outcome Ss reported greater feelings of egotism than did N outcome Ss; and (d) under N outcome conditions, high publicity Ss made lower self-attributions and subsequently also reported greater feelings of egotism than did low publicity Ss. The results support the notion that the observed P–N outcome differences in self-attributions reflect motivational biases in the causal inference process. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of surface tension on extrudate swell from square and rectangular channels

The effect of surface tension on extrudate swell of a Newtonian fluid from square and rectangular channels is presented. Surface tension decreases extrudate cross-sections in all cases examined. The influence on the shapes of final extrudate profiles is found to be greater for channels with higher aspect ratios. Surface tension has the greatest influence on the swell of the longer side of the extrudate while that of the shorter side is virtually unaffected. The effect of the capillary number can be significant and in certain cases should be considered in the design of extrusion dies.     

Housing quality and childrenȁ9s socioemotional health

This study examined whether the socioemotional health of children 9–12 years old is related to the physical quality of their residence and neighborhood. The study included 95 children from households with a wide range of incomes in a medium-sized anglophone and a medium-sized francophone Canadian city. Each childȁ9s socioemotional health was assessed and the quality of each childȁ9s housing was assessed on up to 309 aspects of the residence and immediate neighborhood, based on walk-throughs and interviews with the parents in the residences. The childrenȁ9s socioemotional health, as assessed by their parents, was worse when the physical condition of their residenceȁ9s interior, exterior, and immediate neighborhood was worse. This relation remained significant after controlling for household income, parental education and mental health status, the childȁ9s gender, and time lived in the residence. Furthermore, none of these five factors moderated the relation, evidence for its robustness.     

Toward cooperation in commons dilemmas.

This paper first reviews 6 main theories about and influences on cooperation in the commons dilemmas. Commons is defined as any desirable, divisible entity to which multiple individuals or groups have access. Although a commons might consist of space or time, this paper considers resource commons, that is, reservoirs of accessible energy or valuable materials. The dilemma exists when individuals are presented with a choice between self and collective interest in considering environmental problems. Secondly, the authors suggest 2 new directions by clarifying the nature of cooperation both conceptually and mathematically, and outlining a new theoretical perspective. Measures of cooperation must include 4 elements: the number of harvesters, the amount of the resource, the rate of resource regeneration, and the size of harvests. The authors' theoretical suggestion is to place greater emphasis on the rise and fall of various influences on harvester behaviour over the course of a commons dilemma, an emphasis called the sequential-influence approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociability: Personality, social context, and physical setting.

Sociability, measured as amount of participation in a peer-group conversation, was examined as a function of traits (Personality Research Form), social context, and physical setting. Same-sex quartets of 84 13–17 yr old students discussed a topic selected by an outsider and a topic of the group's own choice. Amount of participation was expected to vary with personality (affiliation, defendence, and dominance), social context (level of acquaintance and friendship in the group), physical setting (seating arrangement), and interactions among these. Ss' participation rate was significantly related to affiliation, level of friendship, a person?×?setting interaction (seating arrangement?×?defendence) and a person?×?person interaction (affiliation?×?defendence). These relationships are discussed as they relate to a model of sociability and as they bear on the person?×?situation issue. Results demonstrate that sociability is a function of dispositions brought to a setting by an individual, the social context of that setting, and the physical arrangement of the setting. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social isolation and personal space: A field study.

Investigated relative social isolation in relation to personal space (or interpersonal distance) in an occupational setting. Extensions of immediacy and stimulation theories predict smaller interpersonal distances for more isolated individuals, but adaptation-level theory predicts larger distances. Naturalistic and stop-distance measures of personal space were obtained from 60 female employees of a government agency, half of whom worked at computer terminals in relative social isolation and half of whom worked primarily with other people. The 2 groups were equivalent in age, job level, and person–thing orientation. Results indicated that, by the naturalistic measure, larger interpersonal distances were found for Ss who worked in relative isolation, thus supporting the adaptation-level approach. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)