Satiated with belongingness? Effects of acceptance, rejection, and task framing on self-regulatory performance.

Seven experiments showed that the effects of social acceptance and social exclusion on self-regulatory performance depend on the prospect of future acceptance. Excluded participants showed decrements in self-regulation, but these decrements were eliminated if the self-regulation task was ostensibly a diagnostic indicator of the ability to get along with others. No such improvement was found when the task was presented as diagnostic of good health. Accepted participants, in contrast, performed relatively poorly when the task was framed as a diagnostic indicator of interpersonally attractive traits. Furthermore, poor performance among accepted participants was not due to self-handicapping or overconfidence. Offering accepted participants a cash incentive for self-regulating eliminated the self-regulation deficits. These findings provide evidence that the need to belong fits standard motivational patterns: Thwarting the drive intensifies it, whereas satiating it leads to temporary reduction in drive. Accepted people are normally good at self-regulation but are unwilling to exert the effort to self-regulate if self-regulation means gaining the social acceptance they have already obtained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bad is stronger than good.

The greater power of bad events over good ones is found in everyday events, major life events (e.g., trauma), close relationship outcomes, social network patterns, interpersonal interactions, and learning processes. Bad emotions, bad parents, and bad feedback have more impact than good ones, and bad information is processed more thoroughly than good. The self is more motivated to avoid bad self-definitions than to pursue good ones. Bad impressions and bad stereotypes are quicker to form and more resistant to disconfirmation than good ones. Various explanations such as diagnosticity and salience help explain some findings, but the greater power of bad events is still found when such variables are controlled. Hardly any exceptions (indicating greater power of good) can be found. Taken together, these findings suggest that bad is stronger than good, as a general principle across a broad range of psychological phenomena. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reaction of ethylene on a model automotive emissions control catalyst

The reaction of ethylene on a model automotive emissions control catalyst consisting of Rh particles on an epitaxial ceria film grown on the (100) surface of an yttria‐stabilized zirconia single crystal was studied using TPD. The TPD results showed that ethylene undergoes dehydrogenation on the model catalyst at temperatures below 500 K depositing carbon on the Rh particles. Surface carbon formed in this manner was oxidized to CO upon heating to above 550 K using oxygen supplied by the ceria lattice. Heating to 900 K was found to induce reduction of the ceria film resulting in a marked decrease in oxidation activity. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Reaction of Formic Acid on Zn-Modified Pd(111)

The decomposition of formic acid on Zn/Pd(111) was studied using Temperature Programmed Desorption and High Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy. On Pd(111), HCOOH decomposes via both dehydration and dehydrogenation pathways to produce CO, CO₂, H₂ and H₂O. Small amounts of Zn (<0.1 mL) incorporated the Pd(111) surface were found to increase the stability of formate species and alter their decomposition selectivity to favor dehydrogenation, resulting in an increase in CO₂ production. This difference in reactivity appears to be caused by relatively long range electronic interactions between surface Pd and Zn atoms and may be important in Pd/ZnO methanol steam reforming catalysts which exhibit high selectivities to CO₂ and H₂.     

Gossip as Cultural Learning.

To complement views of gossip as essentially a means of gaining information about individuals, cementing social bonds, and engaging in indirect aggression, the authors propose that gossip serves to help people learn about how to live in their cultural society. Gossip anecdotes communicate rules in narrative form, such as by describing how someone else came to grief by violating social norms. Gossip is thus an extension of observational learning, allowing one to learn from the triumphs and misadventures of people beyond one's immediate perceptual sphere. This perspective helps to explain some empirical findings about gossip, such as that gossip is not always derogatory and that people sometimes gossip about strangers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

EFFECTS OF FEED TEMPERATURE AND COMPOSITION ON OSCILLATIONS DURING HYDROGEN OXIDATION ON NICKEL POWDER COVERED NICKEL FOILS

Previous workers have reported self sustained rate fluctuations during hydrogen oxidation on nickel. All of the previous data was taken with catalysts with complicated surface structures, and complicated oscillations were seen. Here, measurements similar to those of the previous investigators were made using catalysts with much simpler surface structures. The system was found to oscillate between a high temperature mass transfer controlled state and a low temperature kinetically controlled state. The form of the oscillations was simple and reproducible, and there were consistent trends which could be compared to theory. No modeling of the oscillations is reported here, although modeling is strongly suggested.     

CO/FTIR Spectroscopic Characterization of Pd/ZnO/Al2O3 Catalysts for Methanol Steam Reforming

An as-synthesized 8.8wt% Pd/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst was either pretreated under O₂ at 773 K followed by H₂ at 293 K or under H₂ at 773 K to obtain, respectively, a supported metallic Pd° catalyst (Pd°/ZnO/Al₂O₃) or a supported PdZn alloy catalyst (PdZn/ZnO/Al₂O₃). Both catalysts were studied by CO adsorption using FTIR spectroscopy. For the supported PdZn alloy catalyst (PdZn/ZnO/Al₂O₃), exposure to a mixture of methanol and steam, simulating methanol steam reforming reaction conditions, does not change the catalyst surface composition. This implies that the active sites are PdZn alloy like structures. The exposure of the catalyst to an oxidizing environment (O₂ at 623 K) results in the break up of PdZn alloy, forming a readily reducible PdO with its metallic form being known as much less active and selective for methanol steam reforming. However, for the metallic Pd°/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst, FTIR results indicate that metallic Pd° can transform to PdZn alloy under methanol steam reforming conditions. These results suggest that PdZn alloy, even after an accidental exposure to oxygen, can self repair to form the active PdZn alloy phase under methanol steam reforming conditions. Catalytic behavior of the PdZn/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst also correlates well with the surface composition characterizations by FTIR/CO spectroscopy.     

Local Structure of Defects on Hydrogen- and Vacuum-Reduced TiO2 Surfaces

A comparative study was performed on two TiO₂ (110) surfaces: one annealed in vacuum, the other annealed in hydrogen. Local geometric and electronic structures were characterized using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, in conjunction with conventional surface analytical techniques. Each surface exhibited a distinct pattern of electronic and geometric inhomogeneity. The origin of the defect structure resulting from the two treatments is discussed in terms of reduction mechanisms, defect formation thermodynamics, and chemical reactivity. The implication of local variation in the defect structure to the TiO₂ interaction with reactive species is also addressed.     

Low-Temperature Fabrication of Oxide Composites for Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells

Composites of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) with Sr-doped LaCrO₃ (LSC) and Sr-doped LaMnO₃ (LSM) were prepared by impregnation of a porous YSZ matrix with aqueous solutions of the appropriate metal salts, followed by sintering to various temperatures. XRD measurements showed that perovskite phases formed after sintering at 1073 K, a temperature well below that at which solid-state reactions with YSZ occur. The conductivities of the LSC–YSZ and LSM–YSZ composites prepared in this way were maximized at a sintering temperature of 1373 K for LSC–YSZ and 1523 K for LSM–YSZ, although reasonable conductivities were achieved at much lower temperatures. The conductivities of the two composites increased much more rapidly with the content of the conductive oxide than has been found with conventional composites formed by mixing and sintering the oxide powders. The implications for using this approach to develop novel electrodes for SOFC applications are discussed.