The role of dispositional empathy and social evaluation in the empathic mediation of helping.

J. S. Coke et al (see record 1980-00984-001) proposed a 2-stage model of empathy-mediated helping, based on emotional arousal and perspective taking. The present study hypothesized that a dispositional factor—individual differences in empathy—and a situational factor—potential evaluation from others (demand)—should be included in the process. 123 female undergraduates received false GSR feedback, indicating that they had either high or low arousal during a broadcast of a person's need for help. In addition, Ss were led to believe that the experimenter either did or did not know their level of arousal (demand vs no demand). Ss' premeasured dispositional empathy (A. Mehrabian and N. Epstein's 1972 empathy scale) constituted the 3rd (continuous) variable. The effect of greater help following high- rather than low-arousal feedback found by Coke et al was replicated. However, this was true only for Ss higher in dispositional empathy in the demand condition. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

FREE CONVECTION EXPERIMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR IN VERTICAL OPEN ANNULI

Experiments were conducted for free convection of atomospheric air in open annuli (annulus ratios of 1.155, 1.33, 1.63 and 12.0) with an isoflux inner wall and an adiabatic outer wall for surface temperatures up to 856 K. The experiments established that Rayleigh number increased as the film temperature of air increased, reaching a maximum at approximately 375 K, regardless of the annulus ratio. Beyond this temperature, the Rayleigh number decreased as the film temperature increased. For film temperatures of air less than about 375 K, the Nusselt number increased proportionally to the Rayleigh number raised to the one-fourth power. For higher film temperatures, however, the Nusselt number was inversely proportional to the Rayleigh number.     

Dyads and triads at 35,000 feet: Factors affecting group process and aircrew performance.

Discusses the small-group performance situation involved in the task of flying a multipilot transport aircraft and research psychology's problems in defining the nature of the group process. Input variables (e.g., task characteristics, reward structure, position power, stress levels) have been identified and related to the flightcrew process. There have been suggestions that leader and member personality profiles are important predictors of group process variables in the aviation environment. Levels of workload and stress have been found in work in high fidelity flight simulators to be characteristic of many accident scenarios. Because accidents are infrequent, the author maintains that they make terrible research criteria for judging crew performance. The issue is addressed in the context of altering group norms, increasing member effort and coordination, and changing group composition. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral economic analysis of natural resolution of drinking problems using IVR self-monitoring.

This study investigated whether a behavioral economic index of the value of rewards available over different time horizons predicted patterns of alcohol consumption shortly after natural resolution when the risk of relapse is high. Using a computerized interactive voice response (IVR) telephone system, untreated problem drinkers (n = 41) self-monitored their daily drinking, monetary expenditures, and surrounding contexts over intervals that ranged from a maximum of 42 to 128 days. Expanded Timeline Followback interviews were conducted before and after the IVR interval and 1 year after the baseline assessment. Stable resolutions generally and moderation resolutions specifically were associated with proportionally more preresolution expenditures on savings and less on alcohol compared to heavy drinking outcomes. The findings replicated and extended earlier research and suggested that the extent to which problem drinkers organized their behavior over longer intervals, even when drinking abusively, helped identify who resolved, including who transitioned to stable moderation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)