Conditional probability versus spatial contiguity in causal learning: Preschoolers use new contingency evidence to overcome prior spatial assumptions.

This study examines preschoolers' causal assumptions about spatial contiguity and how these assumptions interact with new evidence in the form of conditional probabilities. Preschoolers saw a toy that activated in the presence of certain objects. Children were shown evidence for the toy's activation rule in the form of patterns of probability: The toy was more likely to activate either when objects made contact with its surface (on condition) or when objects were several inches above its surface (over condition). In Experiment 1, 61 three-year-olds saw a deterministic activation rule. In Experiments 2 and 3, 48 four-year-olds saw an activation rule that was probabilistic. In Experiment 4, 30 four-year-olds saw a screening-off pattern of activation. In all 4 experiments, children used new evidence in the form of patterns of probability to make accurate causal inferences, even in the face of conflicting prior beliefs about spatial contiguity. However, children were more likely to make correct inferences when causes were spatially contiguous, particularly when faced with ambiguous evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supportive versus cognitive–behavioral intervention programs in achieving adjustment to home peritoneal kidney dialysis.

Two psychological interventions given for 8 weeks, supportive and cognitive–behavioral, were compared in achieving psychosocial adjustment to home peritoneal kidney dialysis. Participants were divided into 3 groups of patients and their spouses: a supportive group (18 couples), a cognitive–behavioral group (18 couples), and a no-intervention control group (24 couples). A group of 97 healthy participants served as a baseline control group. Self-report measurements were made before treatment (T?), halfway through (T?), and after treatment (T?). Results indicated that, without treatment, the no-intervention control group demonstrated a deterioration of psychosocial adjustment going from T? to T?. Both interventions were effective in aiding patients and spouses in maintaining psychosocial adjustment in comparison with the no-intervention control group, with few differences between treatments. Most improvement was obtained in the emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal areas, with smaller gains made in the behavioral area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Career compromises: Framings and their implications.

The authors investigated the effects of 3 framings of career compromise (I. Gati, 1993): in terms of alternatives, aspect importance, and within-aspect preferences. Three groups of Israeli young adults (ns?=?95, 108, and 154) and 71 school counselors were presented with hypothetical stories about individuals whose career decision involved a compromise. The results of 4 studies, using both between-subjects and within-subject designs, and both rating scales and forced choices, supported the hypothesis: The alternatives framing was associated with a greater extent of compromise and greater difficulty in making a career decision than were the 2 aspect framings. No differences were found between aspect importance and the within-aspect preference framings. The implications for research and counseling are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What Is a TOT? Cognate and Translation Effects on Tip-of-the-Tongue States in Spanish-English and Tagalog-English Bilinguals.

The authors induced tip-of-the-tongue states (TOTs) for English words in monolinguals and bilinguals using picture stimuli with cognate (e.g., vampire, which is vampiro in Spanish) and noncognate (e.g., funnel, which is embudo in Spanish) names. Bilinguals had more TOTs than did monolinguals unless the target pictures had translatable cognate names, and bilinguals had fewer TOTs for noncognates they were later able to translate. TOT rates for the same targets in monolinguals indicated that these effects could not be attributed to target difficulty. Two popular TOT accounts must be modified to explain cognate and translatability facilitation effects, and cross-language interference cannot explain bilinguals' increased TOTs rates. Instead the authors propose that, relative to monolinguals, bilinguals are less able to activate representations specific to each language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In Defense of Negotiated Readings: How Moderates on Each Side of the Conflict Interpret Intifada News

Based on a study of conversations within 50 Jewish and 15 Arab families in Israel during and after "Mabat," television's evening news program, this article examines the ways in which extremists and moderates in the two communities frame the televised representation of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Practices of partisan journalists who belong to one of the sides in such conflicts between "us" and "them" are shown to reinforce viewers' tendencies to attribute dispositional motives to aggression of the other side (in this case Palestinian uprisers). At the same time, violence on our side (i.e., Israeli soldiers) is explained in situational terms. Analysis of the families' discourse reveals that Jewish and Arab nationalists accept the text at face value: Jewish extremists read it hegemonically while their Arab counterparts decode it oppositionally. Jewish and Arab moderates, on the other hand, negotiate the text and, drawing on their personal and collective experience, invoke various rhetorical strategies to counter the unbalanced picture it presents. The study suggests that awareness and understanding of the constraints of the news genre, and of its social significance, are necessary for literate viewing and critical moderate decoding.     

Teasing out cognitive development from cognitive style: A training study.

Tested whether cognitive development and cognitive style (field-dependence/independence) are different dimensions. The present study was conducted in the context of J. Pascual-Leone's (1974) model of cognitive development, in which an important aspect of cognitive development is delineated by mental capacity, and an important dimension of cognitive style is field-dependence/independence. 74 5.5–6.5 and 7.5–8.5 yr old Ss were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 trainers who taught half the group with a method developed by R. Case and the present 1st author (1974), and the other half of the group with a method designed to train Ss to actively look for informational cues. It was found that cognitive development and cognitive style are distinctly different dimensions because posttest data showed that, under training conditions that were suited to S's cognitive style, field-dependent older Ss were able to perform developmentally appropriate "control-of-variables" tasks at the same level as their field-independent age peers. Both of these groups outperformed younger field-independent Ss. Findings are discussed with regard to the theoretical model, their relevance to the stylistic dimension of reflection/impulsivity, and their educational implications. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive-processing bias in chronic pain: A review and integration.

Do patients with chronic pain selectively process pain- and illness-related stimuli? The evidence with regard to attention, interpretation, and recall biases is critically reviewed. A model is proposed to account for the findings in which it is suggested that biases in information processing in chronic pain are the result of overlap between 3 schemas: pain, illness, and self. With frequent repeated or continued experience of pain, the pain schema becomes enmeshed with illness and self-schemas. The extent of the enmeshment and the salient content of the schema determine the bias. A fundamental assumption is that all patients with pain selectively process sensory-intensity information. A clinical implication of the results is that processing biases that extend beyond this healthy and adaptive process to enmesh the self-schema with pain and illness schemas could maintain and exacerbate distress and illness behavior in patients with chronic pain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The product cycle revisited: Knowledge intensity and firm internationalization

Abstract and Key Results

Characterization of Diabetic Retinopathy in Two Mouse Models and Response to a Single Injection of Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor

In this study, we characterized diabetic retinopathy in two mouse models and the response to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injection. The study was conducted in 58 transgenic, non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice with spontaneous type 1 diabetes (n = 30, DMT1-NOD) or chemically induced (n = 28, streptozotocin, STZ-NOD) type 1 diabetes and 20 transgenic db/db mice with type 2 diabetes (DMT2-db/db); 30 NOD and 8 wild-type mice served as controls. Mice were examined at 21 days for vasculopathy, retinal thickness, and expression of genes involved in oxidative stress, angiogenesis, gliosis, and diabetes. The right eye was histologically examined one week after injection of bevacizumab, ranibizumab, saline, or no treatment. Flat mounts revealed microaneurysms and one apparent area of tufts of neovascularization in the diabetic retina. Immunostaining revealed activation of Müller glia and prominent Müller cells. Mean retinal thickness was greater in diabetic mice. RAGE increased and GFAP decreased in DMT1-NOD mice; GFAP and SOX-9 mildly increased in db/db mice. Anti-VEGF treatment led to reduced retinal thickness. Retinas showed vasculopathy and edema in DMT1-NOD and DMT2-db/db mice and activation of Müller glia in DMT1-NOD mice, with some response to anti-VEGF treatment. Given the similarity of diabetic retinopathy in mice and humans, comparisons of type 1 and type 2 diabetic mouse models may assist in the development of new treatment modalities.     

Synthesis and Cytotoxicity of Y<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> Nanoparticles of Various Morphologies

As the field of nanotechnology continues to grow, evaluating the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles is important in furthering their application within biomedicine. Here, we report the synthesis, characterization, and cytotoxicity of nanoparticles of different morphologies of yttrium oxide, a promising material for biological imaging applications. Nanoparticles of spherical, rod-like, and platelet morphologies were synthesized via solvothermal and hydrothermal methods and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), light scattering, surface area analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and zeta potential measurements. Nanoparticles were then tested for cytotoxicity with human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) cells, with the goal of elucidating nanoparticle characteristics that influence cytotoxicity. Cellular response was different for the different morphologies, with spherical particles exhibiting no cytotoxicity to HFF cells, rod-like particles increasing cell proliferation, and platelet particles markedly cytotoxic. However, due to differences in the nanoparticle chemistry as determined through the characterization techniques, it is difficult to attribute the cytotoxicity responses to the particle morphology. Rather, the cytotoxicity of the platelet sample appears due to the stabilizing ligand, oleylamine, which was present at higher levels in this sample. This study demonstrates the importance of nanoparticle chemistry on in vitro cytotoxicity, and highlights the general importance of thorough nanoparticle characterization as a prerequisite to understanding nanoparticle cytotoxicity.