The other side of affirmative action: Reactions of nonbeneficiaries to sex-based preferential selection.

Researchers studied 162 male undergraduates in an experiment designed to investigate how the experience of unfair treatment affects the reactions of nonbeneficiaries of sex-based preferential selection in terms of responses to the work task, characterizations of the woman beneficiary, and prosocial orientation to the work setting. The basis of selection (merit or preference), the comparative ability of the participant and the selectee (superior, inferior, equal, or unknown) and the presence or absence of one type of explanatory justification for the selection decision (an ideological account) were systematically varied. Results indicated that preferential selection can produce negative reactions on the part of nonbeneficiaries. However, reactions to preferential selection were not always uniform, and procedural and distributive aspects of unfairness concerns were found to have consequences for different types of nonbeneficiary reactions. In addition, the mitigating effects of the ideological account were found to be limited to situations in which the beneficiary and nonbeneficiary were believed to be equally qualified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Epitaxial behavior and interface structures of BSTO thin films

Abstract

Ferroelectric Ba_(1-x)Sr_xTiO₃ (x = 0.5 and 0.25) thin films were grown on (001) LaAlO₃ by using pulsed laser ablation. Extensive x-ray diffraction and selected area electron diffraction reveal that the as-grown films were (001) oriented with a good in plane relationship of <100>_BSTO // <100>_LAO. Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy ion-channeling studies suggested that the films had excellent epitaxial quality and crystallinity with an ion beam minimum yield χ_min of only 2.6%. Atomically sharp interfaces were seen by cross-sectional high-resolution electron microscopy, indicated that the density of misfit dislocations was consistent with the lattice mismatch from the theoretical calculation.     

Type of affirmative action policy: A determinant of reactions to sex-based preferential selection?

In 3 studies, 150 undergraduates and 75 MBA students, men and women, were exposed to selection policies differing in the degree to which merit and group membership were weighted in selection decisions involving women. Results indicated that in self-views and self-assessments of beneficiaries (Study 1), competence perceptions on the part of others (Study 2), and work-related reactions of nonbeneficiaries (Study 3), many, but not all, negative reactions to sex-based preferential selection were alleviated when the policy made clear that merit considerations were central to the decision-making process. In the absence of information about policy type, participants acted as if merit had not been a factor in preferential selection decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neglect after right hemisphere stroke: a smaller floodlight for distributed attention

We evaluated brain tissue compartments in 72 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 81 years with quantitative MRI. The intracranial fraction of white matter was significantly lower in the age categories above 59 years. The CSF fraction increased significantly with age, consistent with previous reports. The intracranial percentage of gray matter decreased somewhat with age, but there was no significant difference between the youngest subjects and the subjects above 59. A covariance adjustment for the volume of hyperintensities did not alter the foregoing results. The intracranial percentage of white matter volume was strongly correlated with the percentage volume of CSF. The finding of a highly significant decrease with age in white matter, in the absence of a substantial decrease in gray matter, is consistent with recent neuropathologic reports in humans and nonhuman primates.     

When similarity is a liability: Effects of sex-based preferential selection on reactions to like-sex and different-sex others.

In 2 laboratory studies, 145 male and female undergraduates were selected for the role of manager either on the basis of merit or preferentially on the basis of their sex. Results of the 1st study indicate that when female Ss had been selected preferentially as compared with on a merit basis, they reacted more negatively to female (but not to male) applicants for an entry-level position in terms of personnel evaluations and competence ratings and they recommended female applicants for hire less frequently and less enthusiastically. No differences in personnel evaluations were found as a result of preferential selection when the Ss were male (Study 1) or when Ss were provided with favorable information about their ability (Study 2). Implications for implementation of affirmative action programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attractiveness and corporate success: Different causal attributions for males and females.

113 working men and women were presented with the work history of an assistant vice president (AVP) of a midsized corporation who was either an attractive or unattractive male or female. Additionally, the AVP's rise to the senior ranks was depicted as either unusually rapid or normative in pace. Ss read the material and answered an attributional questionnaire. Results indicate that, as predicted, attractiveness had different effects on the degree to which the AVP's success was attributed to ability depending on whether the AVP was male or female: Males' ability attributions were enhanced and females' ability attributions were detrimentally affected by their good looks. Also as expected, capability judgments followed a similar pattern. Appearance was additionally shown to have different consequences for males and females when likeability and interpersonal integrity were rated. However, contrary to predictions, the rapidity of corporate ascent did not interact with appearance or sex in affecting attributions about or impressions of the stimulus AVPs. Conceptual and practical implications are discussed. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gesture laterality in aphasic and apraxic stroke patients

Limb preference during conversational gestures may be a reflection of functional hemispheric asymmetries. In right-handers, speech and praxis are usually mediated by the left hemisphere and in conversation, right-handers gesture more with their right than left hand. However, patients with left hemisphere brain damage, who are aphasic and apraxic but not hemiplegic, may use their right hemisphere to compensate for their left. Therefore, we investigated spontaneous lateralized gesture production during conversation in a group of left hemisphere-damaged stroke patients, who were aphasic and apraxic but not hemiparetic, and compared their performance to a group of matched controls. Whereas the control group had a strong right-hand preference, the nonparetic but apraxic and aphasic stroke patients were as likely to produce gestures with the right, left, or both hands.     

Sensorless direct field-oriented control of three-phase induction motors based on "Sliding Mode" for washing-machine drive applications

Sensorless direct field-oriented (SDFO) control of three-phase induction motors based on "sliding mode" has been studied and applied to domestic washing-machine drives. In this paper, three related techniques, sliding-mode flux observer, sliding-mode speed controller, and direct rotor-speed estimator are presented for the application of SDFO "sliding mode" in induction-motor control system. Specifically, the investigations focus on how improving speed regulation, system robustness, and some special technical issues in washing-machine drives. The complete control schemes have been developed and implemented in a low-cost digital signal processor-based electronic controller. Through a variety of system performance validation tests, it has been proved that the developed SDFO control not only achieves satisfied steady as well as a dynamic performance, but also is robust for washing-machine driving applications.