Success in college for students with discrepancies between performance on multiple-choice and essay tests.

Students with high scores (top third) on the essay portion of an Advanced Placement examination and low scores (bottom third) on the multiple-choice portion of the examination were compared with students with the opposite pattern (top third on the multiple-choice questions and bottom third on the essay questions). Across examinations in different subject areas (history, English, and biology), students who were relatively strong in the essay format and weak in the multiple-choice format were as successful in their college courses as students with the opposite pattern, especially in those courses where grades are typically not determined by multiple-choice tests. Although differential essay and multiple-choice test performance was not related to course grades, it was related to performance on other tests. Students in the high multiple-choice/low essay group performed much better than the other group on other multiple-choice tests, especially the verbal section of the SAT. In relation to their performance on multiple-choice tests, students in the high essay/low multiple-choice group performed well on other essay tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The divided self: Concurrent and longitudinal effects of psychological adjustment and social roles on self-concept differentiation.

The relation between self-concept differentiation (SCD), the tendency to see oneself as having different personality characteristics in different social roles, and psychological adjustment was examined in a sample of college students and a sample of middle-aged women. In both studies, Ss with high levels of SCD showed poor emotional adjustment (e.g., depression) and tended to reject social norms and conventions (e.g., low socialization). Longitudinal analyses demonstrated that these same characteristics measured at age 21 predicted SCD measured more than 30 yrs later in middle age. These findings provide strong evidence that SCD is a sign of fragmentation of the self rather than specialization of role identities. The social context was also an important determinant of SCD; both dissatisfaction with role performance and frequent role changes in relationships and jobs predicted SCD measured 9 yrs later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial note.

This editorial introduces the current issue of Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology. The current editor describes the direction that the journal will be taking in the upcoming future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family dysfunction, alexithymia, and client attachment to therapist.

Alexithymia involves problems differentiating affective states such as fear, sadness, or anger; difficulty expressing feelings; and a tendency to rely on external cues rather than internal experience for making decisions. This study examined alexithymia as a possible mediator by which dysfunctional family environment in childhood affects adult clients' attachment relationship to their therapist. Clients (N?=?61) completed measures of dysfunctional family structure (Family Structure Survey), alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale), and their counseling relationship (Client Attachment to Therapist Scale). Findings suggest that fear of separation was associated with both alexithymia and poor client attachment to therapist. Parent–child role reversal was associated with problems in identifying feelings. Role reversal and marital conflict were both associated with problems in client attachment to therapist. Results suggest that alexithymia may be a significant mediator of the relationship between family dysfunction and client attachment to therapist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microinterferometric optical phase tomography for measuring small, asymmetric refractive-index differences in the profiles of optical fibers and fiber devices

A new technique, microinterferometric optical phase tomography, is introduced for use in measuring small, asymmetric refractive-index differences in the profiles of optical fibers and fiber devices. The method combines microscopy-based fringe-field interferometry with parallel projection-based computed tomography to characterize fiber index profiles. The theory relating interference measurements to the projection set required for tomographic reconstruction is given, and discrete numerical simulations are presented for three test index profiles that establish the technique's ability to characterize fiber with small, asymmetric index differences. An experimental measurement configuration and specific interferometry and tomography practices employed in the technique are discussed.     

Sharing control between humans and automation using haptic interface: primary and secondary task performance benefits

This paper describes a paradigm for human/automation control sharing in which the automation acts through a motor coupled to a machine's manual control interface. The manual interface becomes a haptic display, continually informing the human about automation actions. While monitoring by feel, users may choose either to conform to the automation or override it and express their own control intentions. This paper's objective is to demonstrate that adding automation through haptic display can be used not only to improve performance on a primary task but also to reduce perceptual demands or free attention for a secondary task. Results are presented from three experiments in which 11 participants completed a lane-following task using a motorized steering wheel on a fixed-base driving simulator. The automation behaved like a copilot, assisting with lane following by applying torques to the steering wheel. Results indicate that haptic assist improves lane following by least 30%, p < .0001, while reducing visual demand by 29%, p < .0001, or improving reaction time in a secondary tone localization task by 18 ms, p = .0009. Potential applications of this research include the design of automation interfaces based on haptics that support human/automation control sharing better than traditional push-button automation interfaces.     

Large-Scale Structures in Bimodal Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Elastomers

Small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering are used in conjunction to study structures in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) network having a bimodal distribution of network chain lengths, a type of elastomer of considerable interest because of its unusually good mechanical properties. The scaling regimes for the scattering are compared and contrasted for varying degrees of network swelling. The excess scattering at small angles in the swollen state is associated with large-scale structures, likely high cross-link density clusters with reduced swelling, topologically trapped within the network mesh. These results indicate the presence of supramolecular structures with apparently smooth surfaces even in the non-swollen state for this type of elastomer. Optical microscopy of unimodal and bimodal elastomers having comparable crosslink staining does in fact suggest the presence of smooth surfaced, micron-scale islands of higher cross-link density. Finally, the effects of the molecular weight distribution of the network mesh demonstrate that bimodal networks can have supramolecular structures that are smaller but more random than their unimodal counterparts.