Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation. Results in 52 patients

Fifty-two posterior spinal fusions were performed for pediatric idiopathic, congenital, and neuromuscular scoliotic curves. Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation was used in all patients. Nine had prior anterior spinal releases and fusions. The patterns were mixed, with a predominance of right thoracic curvatures. The average preoperative curve measured 60.6 degrees, with correction to 29. Seven patients required revision surgery, and 17 wore orthoses after operation. There were 17 complications in this group, including hook pullout, prominent hardware, infection, pseudarthrosis, and two cases of broken Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation rods. Fatigue failure of this instrumentation, secondary to pseudarthrosis, has not been reported previously, and these two cases are presented in detail. The operative morbidity and difficulty were increased in the larger idiopathic curves and in neuromuscular and congenital scoliosis. Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation is an overall excellent tool for the multiplanar correction of scoliosis and is amenable to revision surgery.     

Examining corporate reputation judgments with generalizability theory.

The researchers used generalizability theory to examine whether reputation judgments about corporations function in a manner consistent with contemporary theory in the corporate-reputation literature. University professors (n = 86) of finance, marketing, and human resources management made repeated judgments about the general reputations of highly visible American companies. Minimal variability in the judgments is explained by items, time, persons, and field of specialization. Moreover, experts from the different specializations reveal considerable agreement in how they weigh different aspects of corporate performance in arriving at their global reputation judgments. The results generally support the theory of the reputation construct and suggest that stable estimates of global reputation can be achieved with a small number of items and experts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Missing information in selection: An application of the Einhorn-Hogarth ambiguity model.

This article argues that the devaluation of options with missing information, found in previous research, is a specific example of ambiguity avoidance in choice. H. J. Einhorn and R. M. Hogarth's (see record 1986-13621-001) ambiguity model was used to make predictions concerning responses to missing information in an employee-selection context. A within-subjects design was used to test the hypothesis that decision makers would avoid options with missing information when they were anticipating gain, but they would prefer such options when they were anticipating loss. Degree of ambiguity was expected to interact with this effect. The results supported the hypothesized effect of decision-maker perspective on choice. However, although there was a significant interaction between decision-maker perspective and degree of ambiguity, it was not of the nature that was predicted by the Einhorn-Hogarth model. Generalized pessimism was negatively correlated with preferences for missing-information options. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Looking Closer at the Effects of Framing on Risky Choice: An Item Response Theory Analysis

Item response theory (IRT) methodology allowed an in-depth examination of several issues that would be difficult to explore using traditional methodology. IRT models were estimated for 4 risky-choice items, answered by students under either a gain or loss frame. Results supported the typical framing finding of risk-aversion for gains and risk-seeking for losses but also suggested that a latent construct we label preference for risk was influential in predicting risky choice. Also, the Asian Disease item, most often used in framing research, was found to have anomalous statistical properties when compared to other framing items. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.     

Familiarity, ambivalence, and firm reputation: Is corporate fame a double-edged sword?

This research questioned the proposition that corporate familiarity is positively associated with firm reputation. Student images of familiar and unfamiliar Fortune 500 corporations were examined in 4 experiments. The results suggested that, consistent with behavioral decision theory and attitude theory, highly familiar corporations provide information that is more compatible with the tasks of both admiring and condemning than less familiar corporations. Furthermore, the judgment context may determine whether positive or negative judgments are reported about familiar companies. The notion that people can simultaneously hold contradictory images of well-known firms may help to explain the inconsistent findings on the relation between familiarity and reputation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decoy effects and attribute-level inferences.

A decoy effect occurs when the addition of an inferior choice alternative changes the preference relations among the other alternatives in the set. Whereas many authors have suggested that the decoy effect has considerable relevance to applied decision-making contexts, others have suggested that the phenomenon may not be found in situations more realistic than those used in typical decoy experiments. The authors examined whether the effect would generalize to situations in which decision makers are required to infer attribute values. The results of the current study showed that even when no numerical attribute information is presented, decoy effects can be quite strong. These findings suggest that decoy effects may indeed be generalizable to realistic choice situations requiring attribute-level inferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Would you work if you won the lottery? Tracking changes in the American work ethic.

Although many social scientists and political commentators have speculated that the American work ethic is in decline, the last longitudinal study of this issue was conducted by Vecchio (1980) on data collected over 30 years ago. Vecchio examined whether workers would wish to continue working even if it were not financially necessary (i.e., the so-called lottery question from the National Opinion Research Center survey) and concluded that there had been a significant decline in work ethic since the 1950s. In the current study, the authors used an updated data set that included data from 1980 through 2006 and found evidence for a declining trend since Vecchio’s study, although the decline seems to be leveling out. Demographic characteristics do not account for this apparent decline in shared sentiments about the importance of work for a productive life. The authors caution against drawing definitive conclusions, given the limitations of the lottery item as a measure of work ethic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A history of the T-group and its early applications in management development.

The growth of the field of group dynamics was synonymous with the rise of the T-group in leadership education. This article documents the tumultuous history of the T-group movement in the United States, particularly as it has been applied in management development. Although the T-group is commonly dismissed as a management fad, the author suggests that it represented an important phenomenon in the history of applied behavioral science and was the first serious attempt at large-scale management and leadership development. The notion of providing managers with feedback on how their behavior impacts others is as popular today as it was 50 years ago. What has changed is the mechanisms by which such feedback is provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)