Reasoning about necessity and possibility: A test of the mental model theory of deduction.

This article examined syllogistic reasoning in college students that differs from previous research in 2 significant ways: (a) Participants were asked to decide whether conclusions were possible as well as necessary, and (b) every possible combination of syllogistic premises and conclusions was presented for evaluation with both single-premise (Experiment 1) and double-premise (Experiment 2) problems. Participants more frequently endorsed conclusions as possible than as necessary, and differences in response to the 2 forms of instruction conformed to several predictions derived from the mental model theory of deduction. Findings of Experiments 2 and 3 showed that some fallacies are consistently endorsed and others consistently resisted when people are asked to judge whether conclusions that are only possible follow necessarily. This finding was accounted for by the computational implementation of the model theory: Fallacies are made when the first mental model of the premises considered supports the conclusion presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Summary of the CALPHAD XXXVI 2007 conference

From 6–11 May 2007, 147 registered participants met at State College, Pennsylvania, for the thirty-sixth CALPHAD meeting organized by Zi-Kui Liu, Steve Hansen, Joanne Murray and Phillip Spencer. Activities were held at Toftrees Golf Resort and Conference Center with logistics run by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from The Pennsylvania State University. Over the course of six days, 57 oral presentations and 84 posters were offered, the abstracts and titles of which are summarized in this report. Posters were on display from Sunday evening until Friday morning. In addition to the continuous display of the posters, two dedicated poster sessions were held in the Monday and Tuesday evenings, which were overwhelmingly enjoyed by the participants.

The CALPHAD Gibbs Triangle Award, an honor given only every three to five years, was bestowed upon Gunnar Eriksson. Fourteen CALPHAD scholarships were awarded to promising students in the field, the Best Paper Award for papers published in 2006 in the CALPHAD journal was conferred, and a Best Poster Award was chosen for one of the conference’s posters.     

Halogen lamp rapid thermal annealing of Si- and Be-implanted In0.53Ga0.47As

Halogen lamp rapid thermal annealing was used to activate 100 keV Si and 50 keV Be implants in In_0.53Ga_0.47As for doses ranging between 5 × 10¹²−4 × 10¹⁴ cm⁻². Anneals were performed at different temperatures and time durations. Close to one hundred percent activation was obtained for the 4.1 × 10¹³ cm⁻² Si-implant, using an 850° C/5 s anneal. Si in-diffusion was not observed for the rapid thermal annealing temperatures and times used in this study. For the 5 × 10¹³ cm⁻² Be-implant, a maximum activation of 56% was measured. Be-implant depth profiles matched closely with gaussian profiles predicted by LSS theory for the 800° C/5 s anneals. Peak carrier concentrations of 1.7 × 10¹⁹ and 4 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³ were achieved for the 4 × 10¹⁴ cm⁻² Si and Be implants, respectively. For comparison, furnace anneals were also performed for all doses.     

Not yet human: Implicit knowledge, historical dehumanization, and contemporary consequences.

Historical representations explicitly depicting Blacks as apelike have largely disappeared in the United States, yet a mental association between Blacks and apes remains. Here, the authors demonstrate that U.S. citizens implicitly associate Blacks and apes. In a series of laboratory studies, the authors reveal how this association influences study participants' basic cognitive processes and significantly alters their judgments in criminal justice contexts. Specifically, this Black-ape association alters visual perception and attention, and it increases endorsement of violence against Black suspects. In an archival study of actual criminal cases, the authors show that news articles written about Blacks who are convicted of capital crimes are more likely to contain ape-relevant language than news articles written about White convicts. Moreover, those who are implicitly portrayed as more apelike in these articles are more likely to be executed by the state than those who are not. The authors argue that examining the subtle persistence of specific historical representations such as these may not only enhance contemporary research on dehumanization, stereotyping, and implicit processes but also highlight common forms of discrimination that previously have gone unrecognized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficacy of behavioral management and patient education on vascular access cleansing compliance in hemodialysis patients.

Compared 4 treatment conditions (patient education [PED], behavioral management [BMG] with monetary incentive, PED/BMG, and attention control [ATC]) on their ability to enhance compliance with vascular access cleansing (VAC) procedures in 56 hemodialysis patients (aged 29–81 yrs). Observers rated VAC behavior at pretreatment, posttreatment, 1-mo follow-up, and 1-yr follow-up. PED/BMG, BMG, and PED Ss gave significantly more correct answers on VAC knowledge questionnaires at posttreatment than the ATC Ss. PED/BMG and BMG Ss completed significantly more VAC steps at posttreatment and 1-mo follow-up than did PED and ATC Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology interns as patient suicide survivors: Incidence, impact, and recovery.

The authors investigated incidence, impact, and methods of coping with patient suicide during the training years of psychology graduate students. All 54 interns in clinical psychology at the Boston VA in 1983–1988 were surveyed. One in 6 Ss had experienced a patient's suicide at some time during their training. The group who experienced a patient's suicide and a group who experienced a patient's suicide attempt both reported high levels of stress on the Impact of Event Scale. Trainees with patient suicides reported stress levels equivalent to that found in patient samples with bereavement and higher than that found with professional clinicians who had patient suicides. Trainees most frequently turned to supervisors for both support and formulation of the suicide. Preparatory efforts at suicide education were found to be minimal and inadequate. Recommendations for assisting the trainee who experiences a patient's suicide are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anger management style and emotional reactivity to noxious stimuli among chronic pain patients and healthy controls: The role of endogenous opioids.

Objective: Previous work suggests that elevated trait anger-out exacerbates pain responses in part through endogenous opioid dysfunction. The authors examined whether this opioid dysfunction affects not only perceived pain intensity, but also emotional responses to being hurt. Design: 79 chronic low back pain (LBP) patients and 46 healthy controls received opioid blockade (8 mg naloxone i.v.) and placebo in randomized, counterbalanced order in separate sessions. During each session, participants sequentially experienced finger pressure pain and ischemic forearm pain tasks, with emotional state assessed at baseline and postpain. Main Outcome Measures: Blockade effects indexing opioid modulation of emotional reactivity were derived by subtracting placebo from blockade condition emotional reactivity. Results: Significant Participant Type × Anger-Out interactions on blockade effects indicated that in LBP participants but not in controls, greater anger-out was associated with deficient opioid modulation of anxiety, anger, and fear reactivity to noxious stimulation. Across participant types, greater anger-in was associated with impaired opioid modulation of anxiety and fear reactivity. Anger-in opioid effects were partially due to overlap with general negative affect. Conclusions: Opioid dysfunction associated with trait anger-out may affect not only perceived pain intensity, but also pain-related suffering in individuals with chronic pain conditions. Implications for understanding the health effects of anger management styles are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

13.3% efficient solution deposited Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells processed with different sodium salt sources

In this work, we obtain the highest reported power conversion efficiency (13.3%) for sulfur‐free CIGSe solar cells by solution processing. Intentional sodium incorporation is achieved directly by dissolving sodium salts in the ink. The effect on solar cell properties of three sodium sources is investigated: NaCl, NaHCO₂, and NaSCN. A comparison is made with absorbers grown on soda‐lime glass substrates and in the absence of sodium sources. The incorporation via sodium salts yields significantly better results, which is attributed to enhanced‐sodium availability. A comparison with identically annealed sputtered metal precursor layers capable of delivering 15.1% module efficiency suggests that the cell results are limited by the selenization procedure. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.