The emotional and academic consequences of parental conditional regard: Comparing conditional positive regard, conditional negative regard, and autonomy support as parenting practices.

The authors conducted 2 studies of 9th-grade Israeli adolescents (169 in Study 1, 156 in Study 2) to compare the parenting practices of conditional positive regard, conditional negative regard, and autonomy support using data from multiple reporters. Two socialization domains were studied: emotion control and academics. Results were consistent with the self-determination theory model of internalization, which posits that (a) conditional negative regard predicts feelings of resentment toward parents, which then predict dysregulation of negative emotions and academic disengagement; (b) conditional positive regard predicts feelings of internal compulsion, which then predict suppressive regulation of negative emotions and grade-focused academic engagement; and (c) autonomy support predicts sense of choice, which then predicts integrated regulation of negative emotions and interest-focused academic engagement. These findings suggest that even parents’ use of conditional positive regard as a socialization practice has adverse emotional and academic consequences, relative to autonomy support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spectroscopy and laser characteristics of copper-vapor-laser pumped pyrromethene-556 and pyrromethene-567 dye solutions

We measured the basic optical properties of Pyrromethene-567 (P567) and Pyrromethene-556 (P556) dye solutions that are relevant to their application as dye lasers. The fluorescence spectra of methanol solutions show mirror images in relation to the absorption spectra, with Stokes shifts of 29.5 and 37.5 nm, respectively, for the two dyes. The central fluorescence peaks were at 546 and 535 nm, with widths of ~40 and ~50 nm (FWHM). The quantum yields were 97% ? 5% and 78% ? 5% for P567 and P556, respectively. Fluorescence lifetimes of 6.0 ? 0.2 ns were obtained for both dyes in methanol. Laser action, obtained by pumping with the green emission line (510.6 nm) from a copper-vapor laser, was measured in a H?nsch-type cavity. Tunability ranged from 531 to 590 nm for P567 and from 522 to 590 nm for P556. Lasing thresholds were ~0.27 and ~0.16 mJ/pulse, with 25% and 27% slope efficiencies for P567 and P556, respectively. Spectroscopy and lasing were studied in other solvents as well.     

The Dynamic of Shrinkage/Moisture Content Behavior Determined During Drying of Microsamples for Different Kinds of Wood

This article presents the results obtained from an experimental device designed for the accurate determination of wood/water relationship on microsamples. The moisture content of the sample is measured with a highly sensitive electronic microbalance and two dimensions of the sample are collected continuously without contact using high-speed laser scan micrometers. The whole device is placed in a climatic chamber. The microsamples investigated were prepared with a diamond wire saw. The unique ability of this device to work with small samples allowed normal, opposite, and reaction wood to be characterized separately.

Experiments were carried out on three wood species (beech, spruce, and poplar). In the case of beech, a deviation from the linear relation between tangential shrinkage and moisture content between 40 and 20% is particularly noticeable for the first desorption. A localized collapse of ray cells could explain this result. Compared to normal wood, an important longitudinal shrinkage and a low tangential shrinkage were observed in compression wood of spruce. Both the tension wood and opposite wood of poplar exhibit a high longitudinal shrinkage, but no significant difference between the three types of wood is noticeable in the tangential direction.     

Autonomous motivation for teaching: How self-determined teaching may lead to self-determined learning.

This study examined teachers' experience of autonomous motivation for teaching and its correlates in teachers and students. It was hypothesized that teachers would perceive various motivations posited by E. L. Deci and R. M. Ryan's (2000) self-determination theory as falling along a continuum of autonomous motivation for teaching. Autonomous motivation for teaching was predicted to be associated positively with teachers' sense of personal accomplishment and negatively with emotional exhaustion. Most important, teachers' self-reported autonomous motivation for teaching was expected to promote students' self-reported autonomous motivation for learning by enhancing teachers' autonomy-supportive behavior, as indicated by students' reports. Results from a sample of 132 Israeli teachers and their 1,255 students were consistent with the hypotheses. Discussion focuses on the importance of the experience of autonomous motivation for teaching for teachers and students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identified versus introjected approach and introjected avoidance motivations in school and in sports: The limited benefits of self-worth strivings.

On the basis of self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), the authors examined whether 2 different types of introjected motivation—an avoidant type aimed at avoiding low self-worth and an approach type aimed at attaining high self-worth—are both associated with a less positive pattern of correlates relative to identified motivation—acting because one identifies with the value of the action. Two studies focusing on the academic and sports domains (N = 1,222) showed that children and adolescents differentiated between the 2 types of introjected motivation. Although introjected avoidance motivation was associated with a more negative pattern of affective and performance correlates than was introjected approach motivation, identified motivation was associated with a much more positive pattern of correlates than both types of introjected motivation. Furthermore, being high on introjected approach motivation did not yield any benefits even when combined with high identified motivation. Results suggest that past findings portraying introjected motivation as being less desirable than identified motivation cannot be ascribed to the avoidance component of introjected motivation. Findings are consistent with the view that even an approach-oriented introjected motivation has very limited benefits when compared with identified motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attribute relevance as a moderator of the effects of motivation on impression formation.

Tested the hypothesis that attributes of the persons being perceived can moderate the effect of the perceiver's motivation on impression formation. 175 female and 105 male undergraduates rated, via semantic differential scales, 2 persons whom they had observed (via videotape) working together on a series of tasks. The relative status of these target persons was manipulated through different introductions to the stimulus tape. Results support the hypotheses that the perceivers' dominance and dependency motives would interact with the status of the target persons to affect the favorability of impressions. More specifically, dependency-oriented perceivers evaluated the same person more favorably when she/he was presented as possessing a high rather than a low status, whereas the reverse was true for dominance-oriented perceivers. Results are discussed in terms of their support for a complex approach to understanding person-perception processes, one that takes into account both personal and situational factors. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental test of defensive processes in impression formation.

The authors examined the hypothesis that 3 processes underlie the defensive aspects of impression formation: (a) increased autonomic arousal after the perception of another person as a threatening stimulus, (b) defensive cognitive activity in regard to the threatening stimulus, and (c) reduction in autonomic arousal after the defensive cognitive activity. 251 male undergraduates completed the Defense Mechanism Inventory, the Dominance scale of the California Psychological Inventory, and the Succorance scale of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. 54 dominance- and dependency-oriented Ss observed a work dyad in which one person was substantially more dominant than the other. During their observation of this interaction, Ss expected to evaluate and later work with either the dominant or the submissive person. Ss' skin conductance was monitored as they observed and evaluated these target persons. As predicted, Ss responded to the motive-threatening target person with greater autonomic arousal; this association was stronger among Ss who typically used denial as a defense mechanism. Defensive devaluation by dominance-oriented Ss was associated with subsequent lower arousal. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IR pyrometry in diamond anvil cell above 400 K

Temperature measurements in a laser heated diamond anvil cell (DAC) are currently limited to temperatures above 1000 K using optics and detectors in the visible range. We have built a pyrometer in the IR range and expanded the lower limit of temperature detection to 400 K. The pyrometer is designed for very low thermal radiation intensities, measured sequentially through a set of bandpass filters in the range of 1.2-3.4 microm using very efficient IR photodetectors. The thermal radiation from the center of the cw Nd:YAG laser heated spot is least square fitted to a Planck curve, using a gray body approximation. Melting is detected by changes in the light scattering picture of an auxiliary He-Ne laser from the surface of the hot spot, and by a change in slope in the plot of hot spot temperature versus laser power. In this work we demonstrate measurement of the melting curve of zinc up to 25 GPa. The melting curve is in very good agreement with previous results which were taken up to 6 GPa in a large volume press.