Methodological examination of videotape-assisted reviews in brief therapy: Helpfulness ratings, therapist intentions, client reactions, mood, and session evaluation.

Evaluations of sessions and videotape-assisted reviews in 24 cases were studied to better understand methods and measures used in therapy process research. Results show that helpfulness ratings, intentions, and reactions were consistent across sessions and reviews. Positive mood increased after sessions but decreased after reviews. Therapists evaluated sessions less positively after reviews than after sessions; Stability, predictive validity, and concurrent validity were found for helpfulness ratings, and stability was found for intentions and reactions. Presession mood was related to process judgments. Thus, using videotape-assisted reviews, helpfulness ratings, intentions, and reactions to study process seems justified, but researchers should be aware that mood may influence judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When less is more: Counterfactual thinking and satisfaction among Olympic medalists.

Research on counterfactual thinking has shown that people's emotional responses to events are influenced by their thoughts about "what might have been." The authors extend these findings by documenting a familiar occasion in which those who are objectively better off nonetheless feel worse. In particular, an analysis of the emotional reactions of bronze and silver medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics—both at the conclusion of their events and on the medal stand—indicates that bronze medalists tend to be happier than silver medalists. The authors attribute these results to the fact that the most compelling counterfactual alternative for the silver medalist is winning the gold, whereas for the bronze medalist it is finishing without a medal. Support for this interpretation was obtained from the 1992 Olympics and the 1994 Empire State Games. The discussion focuses on the implications of endowment and contrast for well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chemical modification of matrix Resin networks with engineering thermoplastics

Summary Functionally terminated bisphenol-A polysulfone oligomers were used in the modification of Epon Resin 828/4,4-diamino-diphenylsulfone (DDS) network system. Phenolic hydroxyl terminated PSF oligomers were first capped with a large excess of bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether or Epon Resin 828 at both ends and then the resulting system was cured with DDS, in a two-step process. During these studies molecular weight and the amount of PSF oligomers incorporated into the network were varied and their effect on the overall properties of the resulting systems were investigated. The capping and curing reactions were followed by using FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, GPC, HPLC and DSC techniques. As a function of the oligomer molecular weight, SEM studies showed the formation of two-phase structures with ductile PSF particles dispersed in the continuous epoxy matrix. Mechanical characterization and fracture toughness measurements showed a remarkable increase in K_IC or g_IC values of the modified networks over that of control, without significant loss in the modulus. This work would appear to be one of the first studies where well bonded ductile glassy modifiers have significantly improved the fracture toughness of highly crosslinked networks.     

A performance model of a design for a minimally replicated distributed database for database-driven telecommunications services

In intelligent networking telecommunication services such as free-phone and various personal communications services, the dialed number corresponds to the identity of the called party rather than to the called party's physical location. The dialed number must therefore be converted to a routable telephone number during call setup. This accomplished by querying a database. If the query is successful, its result is a routable number which is passed to the switch at which the call originates so that the call may be completed. A database maintained solely at a single node may not be sufficient to support the large capacity, reliability, and rapid processing requirements of this service. However, these requirements may be met by replicating and distributing the database instead.Replication and distribution induce problems of consistency, concurrency, and load balancing. We describe and present a performance model of a scheme for replicating customer profiles efficiently. To spread the query transaction load, the database and its replicates could be distributed over a set of geographically distinct nodes. The database would be partitioned into as many disjoint fragments as there are nodes. Each fragment would be stored at two of the nodes, subject to the constraint that no pair of subsets would be stored at more than one node. This constraint ensures that the load which would have been carried by a failed node is spread to two other nodes instead of one, thus reducing the risk of overload in case of failure. We also use a performance analysis to arrive at heuristics for routing transactions within the database which attempt to minimize the query and update response times. For a particular implementation, the analysis suggests that READ or query transactions should be routed to the least loaded node of those holding the fragment of interest. By contrast, when strict locking of all copies is required while performing an update, WRITE or update transactions which are initiated at one node and repeated at the other should be routed to the more heavily loaded of the nodes to minimise overall response time. Recommended by: Amit ShethA shorter version of this paper was presented at the 8th ITC Specialist Seminar on Universal Personal Telecommunications held at Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy, in October 1992.     

Social support and physical disability in older people after hospitalization: A prospective study.

This prospective study examined the effects of social support on physical disability in 269 older people (aged 65–97 yrs). Hospital monitoring identified longitudinal study participants who were admitted for hip fracture, stroke, or myocardial infarction. Interviews before the illness and at 6 wks and 6 mo after admission assessed social support and physical disability; medical records indicated illness severity and comorbidity. The number of emotional support providers and the adequacy of task support were higher after hospitalization. Medical factors and premorbid emotional support predicted disability at 6 wks; not needing support was associated with less disability than needing and receiving adequate support. Task support adequacy at 6 wks predicted less disability at 6 mo. The results reveal a dynamic relationship between social support and recovery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood as a moderator of acceptance of interpersonal feedback.

Two studies demonstrated that feedback is likely to be accepted when its affective tone matches an individual's mood state. In Study 1, Ss in an induced positive mood were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of positive feedback, whereas Ss in an induced negative mood were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of negative feedback. In Study 2, after a neutral mood induction, nondepressed Ss were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of positive feedback, whereas depressed Ss were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of negative feedback. After a positive mood induction, both nondepressed and depressed Ss were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of positive feedback. These results suggest that motivations for self-enhancement or self-consistency do not generally underlie acceptance of feedback. Instead, a model of accessibility of information in memory is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A kala-azar control programme for remote tribal communities

Indigenous people have been trained to provide a culturally appropriate kala-azar control programme for the tribal population of Sahibganj, Bihar, India. Cultural resistance to modern medicine has been overcome and the influence of village witch-doctors has been countered.     

Psychology and social policy for children: Introduction to the section.

The relationship between developmental psychology and social policy has led to work on topics such as the lack of a national policy on children's welfare and research on children, consideration of how judicial and psychological interests may complement each other in the area of children's rights, child advocacy, and the interface between psychology and education. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Framework for the Initialization of Student Models in Web-based Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Initializing a student model for individualized tutoring in educational applications is a difficult task, since very little is known about a new student. On the other hand, fast and efficient initialization of the student model is necessary. Otherwise the tutoring system may lose its credibility in the first interactions with the student. In this paper we describe a framework for the initialization of student models in Web-based educational applications. The framework is called ISM. The basic idea of ISM is to set initial values for all aspects of student models using an innovative combination of stereotypes and the distance weighted k-nearest neighbor algorithm. In particular, a student is first assigned to a stereotype category concerning her/his knowledge level of the domain being taught. Then, the model of the new student is initialized by applying the distance weighted k-nearest neighbor algorithm among the students that belong to the same stereotype category with the new student. ISM has been applied in a language learning system, which has been used as a test-bed. The quality of the student models created using ISM has been evaluated in an experiment involving classroom students and their teachers. The results from this experiment showed that the initialization of student models was improved using the ISM framework.