Assessing dissimilarity relations under missing data conditions: Evidence from computer simulations.

The extensive research examining relations between group member dissimilarity and outcome measures has yielded inconsistent results. In the present research, the authors used computer simulations to examine the impact that a methodological feature of such research, participant nonresponse, can have on dissimilarity-outcome relations. Results suggest that using only survey responders to calculate dissimilarity typically results in underestimation of true dissimilarity effects and that these effects can occur even when response rates are high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does use-of-force simulation training in Canadian police agencies incorporate principles of effective training?

Numerous police agencies in Canada incorporate use-of-force simulation training into their overall instructional regime. A prominent theory of learning, known as cognitive load theory, suggests that in order for this training to be effective, instructional methods must facilitate the acquisition and automation of task-relevant schemas without overwhelming the limited processing capacity of the learner. In this article, several instructional effects, proposed and supported by the cognitive load literature, are discussed. These training effects operate by minimizing unnecessary cognitive demands, by drawing on instructional methods that enhance schema acquisition, and/or by carefully managing the inherent complexity of the to-be-learned material. The argument is advanced that although use-of-force simulation training may be able to capitalize on many of these effects, at present there is little evidence to suggest that it currently does. The authors conclude by discussing the urgent need to assess how the knowledge gained from cognitive load theory might serve to enhance the effectiveness of use-of-force simulation training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When Gulliver travels: Social context, psychological closeness, and self-appraisals.

Four studies examined how the characteristics of others affect people's self-appraisals. Ss viewed photographs of physically attractive or unattractive targets, then rated their own attractiveness. Study 1 found evidence for a contrast effect: Ss' self-appraisals were more favorable after viewing an unattractive same-sex target than after viewing an attractive same-sex target. Study 2 manipulated psychological closeness by varying the degree to which the S and the target shared similar attitudes and values. Although contrast effects occurred when the S and the target were dissimilar, the reverse tended to be true when the S and the target were related by virtue of their perceived similarity. Two additional studies extended these results, using a different operational definition of psychological closeness. Findings indicate that psychological closeness determines how other people's characteristics affect the self-concept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cerebral Asymmetries for Language: Evidence for Structural-Behavioral Correlations.

The current investigation tested 20 male right-handers in 5 divided visual field lexical tasks. Asymmetries in Heschl's gyrus, planum temporale, and planum parietale were measured using structural magnetic resonance imaging. Composite task asymmetries were positively correlated with asymmetry of the planum temporale only. There was also an association between the consistency of anatomical and behavioral asymmetries: Individuals who departed the most from the modal pattern of cortical asymmetry across regions also tended to show the greatest variability in asymmetry across tasks. Hence, individual differences in language laterality tasks may be affected by variation in asymmetry of posterior language structures. Additionally, when typical anatomical asymmetries fail to co-occur, there may be a less strictly regulated distribution of function across hemispheres. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond testing: A decision-making system for providing school psychological consultation.

Educators and school psychologists have long found testing and psychological reports to be limited in answering the call for effective and efficient school mental health services. Recommendations to improve school psychological services often seem so idealistic as to be unattainable or to require abandonment of established roles and functions. The present model expands the current model of the school psychological referral system in a practical and concrete manner. It presents a flow chart to guide the process of consultation after the phases of problem definition and data collection. Benefits of this model for stimulating team problem solving, continuous professional inservicing, and efficient use of time are discussed. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual determinants of hypnotizability and of relationships between hypnotizability scales.

Two experiments examined the role of situational variables on responsiveness to hypnotizability and correlations between measures of hypnotizability. Experiment 1 found that the correlation between the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) of T. X. Barber and S. C. Wilson (see record 1980-22417-001) and the Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale (CURSS) was significantly stronger when the CIS was defined as a test of hypnotizability rather than as a set of imagination. Experiment 2 informed Ss who had scored high or low on the CURSS that their CIS performance would either match their earlier hypnotic performance or that it would differ from their earlier performance. Ss' CIS performance was consistent with their administered instructions. These findings suggest that the high correlations typically obtained between different hypnotizability scales may be more strongly influenced by situation-specific attitudes and interpretational sets than is usually acknowledged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instruction in career decision making and decision-making styles.

Investigated the differential effectiveness of 2 distinct career decision-making interventions and decision-making styles on certainty of vocational choice and changes in vocational maturity. 120 undergraduates were randomly assigned to (a) intuitive intervention, (b) rational intervention, (c) attention-placebo, or (d) no-treatment control groups. Ss were classified as having either a rational, intuitive, or dependent decision-making style, and styles distributed themselves evenly across the 4 groups. They were administered a battery of tests including the Career Maturity Inventory, Vocational Survey Questionnaire, and Assessment of Career Decision Making. Results indicate that decision-making style contributed to vocational maturity and certainty of vocational choice, and both interventions resulted in increases on both dependent measures. Rational decision makers did best with the rational intervention, whereas intuitive decision makers did best with the intuitive interventions. Thus, both styles can be considered as effective. Dependent decision makers had an ineffective style, demonstrating decreases on both dependent measures in all groups. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organic thin-film electronics from vitreous solution-processed rubrene hypereutectics

Electronic devices based on single crystals of organic semiconductors provide powerful means for studying intrinsic charge-transport phenomena and their fundamental electronic limits. However, for technological exploitation, it is imperative not to be confined to the tedious growth and cumbersome manipulation of molecular crystals-which generally show notoriously poor mechanical properties-but to be able to process such materials into robust architectures by simple and efficient means. Here, we advance a general route for facile fabrication of thin-film devices from solution. The key beneficial feature of our process-and the principal difference from existing vapour deposition and solution-processing schemes-is the incorporation of a glass-inducing diluent that enables controlled crystallization from an initial vitreous state of the organic semiconductor, formed in a selected area of the phase diagram of the two constituents. We find that the vitrifying diluent does not adversely affect device performance. Indeed, our environmentally stable, discrete rubrene-based transistors rival amorphous silicon devices, reaching saturated mobilities of up to 0.7 cm2 V-1 s-1, ON-OFF ratios of >or=10(6) and subthreshold slopes as steep as 0.5 V per decade. A nearly temperature-independent device mobility, indicative of a high crystalline quality of our solution-processed, rubrene-based films, corroborates these findings. Inverter and ring-oscillator structures are also demonstrated.     

Influence of Interesterification of a Stearic Acid-Rich Spreadable Fat on Acute Metabolic Risk Factors

Chemical and enzymatic interesterification are used to create spreadable fats. However, a comparison between the two processes in terms of their acute metabolic effects has not yet been investigated. A randomised crossover study in obese (plasma TAG > 1.69 mmol/L, and BMI > 30 (BMI = kg/m²) or waist circumference > 102 cm, n = 11, age = 59.3 ± 1.8 years) and non-obese (plasma triacylglycerol (TAG) < 1.69 mmol/L, and BMI < 30  or waist circumference < 102 cm, n = 10, age = 55.8 ± 2.2 years) men was undertaken to compare the effects of chemical versus enzymatic interesterification on postprandial risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). TAG, cholesterol, glucose, insulin and free fatty acid concentrations were measured for 6 h following consumption of 1 g fat/kg body mass of non-interesterified (NIE), chemically interesterified (CIE), enzymatically interesterified (EIE) stearic acid-rich fat spread or no fat, each with 50 g available carbohydrate from white bread. Interesterification did not affect postprandial glucose, insulin, free fatty acids or cholesterol (P > 0.05). Following ingestion of NIE, increases in serum oleic acid were observed, whereas both oleic and stearic acids were increased with CIE and EIE (P < 0.05). While postprandial TAG concentrations in non-obese subjects were not affected by fat treatment (P > 0.05), obese subjects had an 85% increase in TAGs with CIE versus NIE (P < 0.05). The differences in TAG response between non-obese and obese subjects suggest that interesterification may affect healthy individuals differently compared to those already at risk for T2D and/or CVD.