Legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the United States: A social science perspective.

Whether and how civil society should recognize committed relationships between same-sex partners has become a prominent, often divisive, policy issue. The present article reviews relevant behavioral and social science research to assess the validity of key factual claims in this debate. The data indicate that same-sex and heterosexual relationships do not differ in their essential psychosocial dimensions; that a parent's sexual orientation is unrelated to her or his ability to provide a healthy and nurturing family environment; and that marriage bestows substantial psychological, social, and health benefits. It is concluded that same-sex couples and their children are likely to benefit in numerous ways from legal recognition of their families, and providing such recognition through marriage will bestow greater benefit than civil unions or domestic partnerships. Trends in public opinion toward greater support for legal recognition of same-sex couples are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effective treatment relationships for persons with serious psychiatric disorders: The importance of attachment states of mind.

Participants were 54 clients with serious psychiatric disorders and 21 clinical case managers. Clients' serious psychiatric disorders included Axis I diagnoses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This study examined how attachment states of mind of both clients and case managers influenced the effectiveness of therapeutic relationships and client functioning. Client and case manager attachment states of mind interacted in predicting the working alliance and client functioning. Specifically, clients who were more deactivating with respect to attachment had better alliances and functioned better with less deactivating case managers, whereas clients who were less deactivating worked better with more deactivating case managers. These findings highlight the importance of clinicians and clients being matched in ways that balance their interpersonal and emotional strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graphical 3D Visualization of Highway Bridge Ratings

Aging highway infrastructure requires effective rating methodologies to prioritize bridges for rehabilitation and repair. To aid engineers in decision making regarding bridge maintenance, a three-dimensional (3D) visualization system is developed for rating reinforced concrete deck-girder bridge. Color codings show the most probable mode of failure for girder cross sections under combined moment-shear forces and allow an engineer to determine a rehabilitation strategy. The visualization system relies on 3D finite-element analyses using the open source framework OpenSees, making the system readily extensible to a wide range of bridge types and loading scenarios, as well as emergent reliability-based rating methodologies. Important features of the visualization system are emphasized, including the use of lighting and feature edge detection to improve the visual quality of a bridge model. Recent developments in scientific visualization are discussed for potential application to civil engineering problems.     

Mechanisms of Neutralization of Bauxite Residue by Carbon Dioxide

Bauxite residue (red mud), an alkaline slurry from alumina refining, is produced in large volumes and disposed of in large surface impoundments. The objectives of this study were to measure the extent of neutralization of bauxite residue by carbon dioxide as a function of CO2 partial pressure and to determine the geochemical reactions responsible for carbon sequestration. Bauxite residue was exposed to carbon dioxide (CO2) at partial pressures ranging from 10?3.5?to?1?atm and the residue pore-water pH was measured until a steady state pH was achieved. Using pure CO2 (PCO2 = 1?atm), a steady state pH of 7.7 was established in 1?day while it took 9?days to reach a pH of 9.8 at PCO2 = 10?3.5?atm. The pH rebounded to 9.9 after 1?day when bauxite residue first neutralized at PCO2 of 1, 0.1, or 0.01?atm for 10?days was subsequently exposed to PCO2 = 10?3.5?atm, indicating that the pH change during short-term carbonation (t ? 10?days) was due to reactions of carbonic acid and OH? in the pore water. A longer reaction time (30?days) at PCO2 = 1?atm indicated carbonation of tricalcium aluminate (C3A solid) and conversion to calcite. This was confirmed in aged field samples that had been carbonated in air (PCO2 = 10?3.5?atm) for 30?years. The maximum solid-phase CO2 sequestration (as calcite) potential of red mud can be realized at PCO2 = 10?3.5?atm; however, the sequestration rate is limited by slow dissolution of C3A. The CO2 sequestration potential is small (0.029–0.057 MMT CO2/year) compared to annual CO2 emissions (110?MMT/year) for bauxite refining and red mud production of 30?MMT/year.     

The impact of evidence-based practice implementation and fidelity monitoring on staff turnover: Evidence for a protective effect.

Staff retention is an ongoing challenge in mental health and community-based service organizations. Little is known about the impact of evidence-based practice implementation on the mental health and social service workforce. The present study examined the effect of evidence-based practice implementation and ongoing fidelity monitoring on staff retention in a children's services system. The study took place in the context of a statewide, regionally randomized effectiveness trial of an evidence-based intervention designed to reduce child neglect. In the study 21 teams consisting of 153 home-based service providers were followed over a 29-month period. Survival analyses revealed greater staff retention in the condition where the evidence-based practice was implemented along with ongoing fidelity monitoring presented to staff as supportive consultation. These results should help to allay concerns about staff retention when implementing evidence-based practices where there is good values–innovation fit and when fidelity monitoring is designed as an aid and support to service providers in providing a high standard of care for children and families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affect and alexithymia determine choice among valued objects.

Why do people choose to surround themselves with possessions? An explanation has been offered by D. A. Norman (2004) in terms of the stimulation of 3 levels of psychological processing that map onto an object’s appearance, its usability, and its ability to evoke reflective processing, including emotion. Two experiments were carried out to investigate participants’ choices among valued objects, and found that affective factors (including links to current and past, euphoric and dysphoric emotion) played a dominant role in predictive modeling. The role was, however, significantly modulated by alexithymia. The extent to which object choice could be predicted was lower for those with higher levels of alexithymia than for those with lower levels. Nevertheless, a prominent linkage to current dysphoria was observed to emerge for higher levels of alexithymia, whose implications are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changing, priming, and acting on values: Effects via motivational relations in a circular model.

Circular models of values and goals suggest that some motivational aims are consistent with each other, some oppose each other, and others are orthogonal to each other. The present experiments tested this idea explicitly by examining how value confrontation and priming methods influence values and value-consistent behaviors throughout the entire value system. Experiment 1 revealed that change in 1 set of social values causes motivationally compatible values to increase in importance, whereas motivationally incompatible values decrease in importance and orthogonal values remain the same. Experiment 2 found that priming security values reduced the better-than-average effect, but priming stimulation values increased it. Similarly, Experiments 3 and 4 found that priming security values increased cleanliness and decreased curiosity behaviors, whereas priming self-direction values decreased cleanliness and increased curiosity behaviors. Experiment 5 found that priming achievement values increased success at puzzle completion and decreased helpfulness to an experimenter, whereas priming with benevolence values decreased success and increased helpfulness. These results highlight the importance of circular models describing motivational interconnections between values and personal goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the diagnostic utility of facial composites: Beliefs of guilt can bias perceived similarity between composite and suspect.

Facial composite research has generally focused on the investigative utility of composites—using composites to find suspects. However, almost no work has examined the diagnostic utility of facial composites—the extent to which composites can be used as evidence against a suspect. For example, detectives and jurors may use the perceived similarity of a suspect to a composite as evidence to determine the likelihood of a suspect's guilt. However, research in social cognition and models of cognitive coherence suggest that these similarity judgments may be biased by evaluators' preexisting beliefs of guilt. Two studies examined how preexisting beliefs of guilt influence similarity ratings between a suspect and a facial composite. Study 1 (n = 93) demonstrated that mock-investigators' beliefs in a suspect's guilt inflated their subsequent similarity ratings. Study 2 (n = 49) demonstrated that mock-jurors' beliefs in a defendant's guilt predicted their similarity ratings. These findings highlight a problem of using facial composites as evidence against a suspect, and demonstrate the malleability of similarity judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test Accommodations for Postsecondary Students: The Quandary Resulting From the ADA's Disability Definition.

Legal wrangling precipitated by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) has resulted in courts adopting a narrow view of disability. This narrow categorical disability definition is in conflict with current mental health and educational practice that presumes an inclusive view of disability. Test accommodations for licensing exams based on learning impairments provide an example of the conflict generated by legal versus mental health views of disability. Mental health practitioners often support test accommodation requests for students who do not meet the ADA's strict threshold for disability determination. Mental health practitioners must understand the ADA definition of disability, and test organizations need to examine goals and alter standard practice in a manner that is fair and equitable independent of learning impairments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impulsivity and rapid discounting of delayed hypothetical rewards in cocaine-dependent individuals.

In this study, crack/cocaine-dependent (CD) and non-drug-using matched control (MC) participants were presented with hypothetical immediate and delayed rewards, with 16 delay conditions ranging from 5 min to 25 years. All participants were presented with hypothetical monetary rewards; however, the CD group was also presented with hypothetical crack/ cocaine rewards. The objective value of the rewards ranged from $1 to $1,000. Hyperbolic discounting functions provided a good fit of the data. The CD group discounted monetary rewards at a higher rate than the MC group did, and the CD group discounted crack/cocaine rewards at a higher rate than it did monetary rewards. Moreover, scores on self-report measures indicated greater impulsivity in the CD group when compared with the MC group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)