Psychological interventions and research in the oncology setting: An integrative framework.

Within the context of treatment outcome research in the oncology setting, the authors propose a model that integrates the models of responsibility developed by P. Brickman et al (see record 1982-30315-001), W. T. Powers's (1973) control theory, and E. T. Higgins's (1989) self-discrepancy theory. This integrative approach is patient-centered in its attempt to base an assessment of the psychotherapy or other interventions on an understanding of the patients' self-reference states as they interact with the treatment being assessed and the disorder for which interventions were attempted. The authors highlight some of the ways in which a purely medical treatment, such as chemotherapy, can evoke the type of patient distress whose treatment falls within the domain of psychologists. Cancer patients' internal reference states need to be considered in the respective outcome research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision field theory: A dynamic-cognitive approach to decision making in an uncertain environment.

Decision field theory provides for a mathematical foundation leading to a dynamic, stochastic theory of decision behavior in an uncertain environment. This theory is used to explain (1) violations of stochastic dominance, (2) violations of strong stochastic transitivity, (3) violations of independence between alternatives, (4) serial position effects on preference, (5) speed–accuracy trade-off effects in decision making, (6) the inverse relation between choice probability and decision time, (7) changes in the direction of preference under time pressure, (8) slower decision times for avoidance as compared with approach conflicts, and (9) preference reversals between choice and selling price measures of preference. The proposed theory is compared with 4 other theories of decision making under uncertainty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elaborative inferences during reading: Do they occur on-line?

Four experiments were conducted to examine the extent to which readers construct elaborative inferences on-line during reading. In Experiment 1, gaze durations were measured while subjects read anaphors to target antecedents that referenced a particular category member either explicitly or implicitly. When the context strongly suggested a particular category member, gaze durations on an anaphor were the same following either an implicit or an explicit antecedent. When the context did not suggest any particular category member, gaze durations were significantly longer following an implicit antecedent. The results confirmed that, with sufficient context, readers will generate a simple elaborative inference on-line. These results were replicated in Experiment 2 in which the materials did not strongly signal the inference but a sentence designed to encourage subjects to infer was included. In Experiment 3, this "demand sentence" was not included, and readers did not appear to construct the targeted inference. The results of Experiment 4 confirmed that once generated, elaborative inferences are stored as part of the long-term-memory representation of a passage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists look at television: Cognitive, developmental, personality, and social policy implications.

Addresses issues concerning the continuing exposure of children to TV that require examination by cognitive, developmental, and personality psychologists. Studies dealing with structural format and content of commercial TV and the possible influences on developing children are reviewed. Cognitive and affective issues include the rapid pace of presentation on TV and its effect on the cognitive processing of children. The relationships between family lifestyle and TV viewing are also considered. Familial variables including amount and type of TV viewing were found to affect children's reading comprehension, comprehension of plots, effectiveness of language usage, beliefs, imagination, motoric restlessness, aggressiveness, and school adjustment. Evidence accumulates suggesting that heavy viewing of currently available TV fare by children may be harmful. Research suggesting potential benefits of the medium for education and constructive development has not generally been translated into regular age-specific programming for children by the TV industry. Avenues for intervention by psychologists with parents, educators, and industry are reviewed. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Historical Records of Metal Pollution in Sediments of Toronto and Hamilton Harbours

The sediments of Hamilton and Toronto Harbours contain some of the oldest records of metal pollution in the Great Lakes basin. The fluxes of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Fe, and Mn into the two harbours have been estimated from the analyses of core samples dated by the Pb-210 technique. The contrasting metal levels in the two harbour sediments are viewed in relation to the differences in the disposal strategies of the dredged spoils and the sources of metal pollution in the harbours. The Zn and Fe concentrations of 5 to 8 mg g^?1 and 10 to 13 % dry wt. in Hamilton Harbour sediments, which are among the highest recorded in any harbour, can be related to effluent discharges from the large local iron and steel plants. An inventory of the sources and sinks of pollutant metals in Hamilton Bay shows a substantive export of the metals to Lake Ontario.     

Use of chromaticity in remote measurements of water quality

Optical cross sections (absorption and scattering per unit concentration of chlorophyll a, suspended mineral, and dissolved organic carbon) are utilized to generate subsurface irradiance reflectance spectra and upwelling irradiance spectra for a variety of water masses. Standard CIE chromaticity analyses are applied to the upwelling irradiance spectra. The results of these analyses serve as a basis for a discussion of severe restrictions in the application of chromaticity to water quality prediction.     

Macromolecular engineering of polylactones and polylactides

Summary Aluminum alkoxides carrying functional alkoxy groups are effective initiators for the-caprolactone polymerization in toluene and tetrahydrofuran. The coordination-insertion type of polymerization is living and yields exclusively linear polyesters of a predictable molecular weight with a narrow molecular weight distribution within the period of time required for the total monomer conversion. The functional group associated to the active alkoxy group of the initiator is selectively attached to one chain-end, and the second end-group is systematically a hydroxyl function resulting from the hydrolysis of the living growing site. Asymmetric telechelic polyesters are thus obtained in a perfectly controlled way, including macromonomers. Beside (meth)acrylic double bond, the functional end-group derived from the initiator can be, for instance, an unsaturation, a halogen and a tert-amine. Coupling the asymmetric telechelic polymer via the OH end-group (or the precursor Al alkoxide end-group) is a direct way to the related symmetric telechelic of a twofold increased molecular weight.The authors are indebted to IRSIA for a fellowship to one of them (Ph. Dubois) and to the Services de la Programmation de la Politique Scientifique for financial support. NMR spectra were recorded at the CREMAN facility of the University of Liège which has been funded by a grant from the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique. The helpful assistance of Dr. Warin has been very much appreciated. They are very greatful to G. Broze (Colgate Palmolive) who initiated this research.