The primacy of perceiving: Emotion recognition buffers negative effects of emotional labor.

There is ample empirical evidence for negative effects of emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) on workers' well-being. This study analyzed to what extent workers' ability to recognize others' emotions may buffer these effects. In a 4-week study with 85 nurses and police officers, emotion recognition moderated the relationship between emotional labor and work engagement: Workers with high emotion recognition engaging in emotional labor did not report lower work engagement after 4 weeks, whereas those with low emotion recognition did. These effects pertained to both surface and deep acting. The results suggest that emotional labor be not necessarily detrimental to workers' engagement. Instead, the impact of emotional labor hinges upon workers' ability to correctly identify interaction partners' emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group creativity and innovation: A motivated information processing perspective.

The authors review the Motivated Information Processing in Groups Model (De Dreu, Nijstad, & Van Knippenberg, 2008) to understand group creativity and innovation. Although distinct phenomena, group creativity and innovation are both considered a function of epistemic motivation (EM; the degree to which group members tend to systematically process and disseminate information), and prosocial motivation (PSM; the extent to which group members seek collective [rather than personal] gain). EM is considered a function of, for example, time constraints, accountability pressures, preference diversity, openness to experience, and ambiguity aversion. PSM is stronger under, for example, participative decision making, shared social identity, and collective reward schemes. A review of the authors' work, and that of others, supports the prediction that group creativity and innovation is higher when group members combine high EM with a PSM. Avenues for new research and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three dimensional strain measurements with x-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy

A feasibility study was performed to show the ability of energy dispersive x-ray diffraction (EDXRD) to measure three dimensional strain distributions in thick industrial materials. Photon energies up to 130 keV were used to guarantee penetration through the sample and curve fitting techniques applied to peak position determination. This system was used to measure the strain gradient through the thickness of a 9.5 mm thick cantilevered steel bar.     

Motivated information processing, social tuning, and group creativity.

The extent to which groups are creative has wide implications for their overall performance, including the quality of their problem solutions, judgments, and decisions. To further understanding of group creativity, we integrate the motivated information processing in groups model (De Dreu, Nijstad, & Van Knippenberg, 2008) with work on epistemic social tuning (Lunn, Sinclair, Whitchurch, & Glenn, 2007). Three propositions were advanced: (a) Groups produce more ideas when members have high rather than low epistemic motivation, especially when members also have a prosocial rather than pro-self motivation; (b) these ideas are more original, appropriate, or feasible when a group norm favors originality, appropriateness, or feasibility; and (c) originality is valued more in individualistic cultures (e.g., the Netherlands), whereas appropriateness is valued more in collectivist cultures (e.g., Korea). Four studies involving 3-person groups generating ideas supported these propositions: Epistemic motivation (mild vs. intense time pressure; presence vs. absence of process accountability) stimulated production and originality, especially when prosocial rather than pro-self motives were present and participants were Dutch or originality norms were experimentally primed. When appropriateness norms were primed or participants were Korean, epistemic motivation stimulated production and appropriateness, especially when prosocial rather than pro-self motives were present. We discuss implications for research on group processes and for work on culture and creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on "Intraclass Correlation vs. Factor Analytic Techniques for Determining Groups of Profiles."

"A few of the more fundamental misconceptions or technically incorrect statements contained in the paper by Haggard et al. (see record 1960-00131-001)… have been noted. Other technically questionable discussions include the authors' presentation of the orthogonal centroid method… the possible assignment of cases to groups defined by factor analytic methods… and the testing of statistical hypotheses using sets of related observations.' (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A factor analysis of the California Psychological Inventory.

Using test scores from 372 Ss, various statistical analyses indicated that a reduced set of 6 scales accounts for about ? of the total variance in the CPI. "… the reference scales provide more concise and less ambiguous definitions of the variables assessed by the CPI and have considerable promise as measures of the normal personality." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ambulatory surgery in a university setting

Establishment of an ambulatory anesthesia and surgery program in a university teaching hospital presents difficulties. A successful program of this nature, the "Day Op program," was begun at the North Carolina Memorial Hospital in December 1972. Through December 1974, of all surgery performed in our operating rooms, 2,590 cases, (17%) were Day Op cases. Various types of anesthesia were used, and a high percentage of endotracheal intubations were performed. The hospital admission rate was 1.54%. Many difficulties were encountered, and much satisfaction was obtained, in the management of the program. The Day Op room has proved to be a major part of the success of the program.     

Construct validity: A Critique.

"The renaming of the process of building a theory of behavior by the new term 'construct validity' contributes nothing to the understanding of the process nor to the usefulness of the concepts. The introduction into discussion of psychological theorizing of the aspects of construct validity discussed… creates, at best, unnecessary confusion and at worst, a nonempirical, nonscientific approach to the study of behavior." Terminology of logical behaviorism and techniques of an "operational methodology" are preferred. "It is… recommended that the formulation of construct validity, as presented in the several papers noted in this critique, be eliminated from further consideration as a way of speaking about psychological concepts, laws, and theories." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood hyperkinesis: A return to the source.

Performed a factor analysis on measures of the most widely agreed upon primary or core symptoms of hyperkinesis in a group of 94 4-12 yr old males seen at a child psychiatry clinic. The 3 resulting stable factors accounted for 64% of the variance, and each was defined mainly by variables from a particular source of information. Sources included psychiatrists, chart raters, teachers, and parents. Inspection and a reanalysis of other multivariate studies of minimal brain dysfunction/hyperkinesis (MBD/HK) indicated that source-related rather than sympton-related factors typically result. It is suggested that the situational specificity of behaviors in MBD/HK children may contribute to the relative unfruitfulness of such studies. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)