Real-time in situ monitoring of the thermal cure of a bisphenol cyanate: A view toward intelligent processing

A dispersive fiber-optic Raman spectrometer was used to remotely monitor, in real-time, the local temperature and the extent of reaction of a commercial cyanate ester polymer (AroCy L-10). The local temperature was determined by solving the Boltzmann relation governing the intensity ratio of the Raman Stokes and anti-Stokes scattering of a reference mode which does not vary with the reaction chemistry. The extent of the reaction can be monitored using either individual peaks assciated with the reactant or product or by using the entire spectrum and principal component multivariate calibration. The use of principal component analysis has distinct advantages over the single-peak method. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Solomon effect in learning disabilities diagnosis: Can we learn from history?

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act; IDEIA, 2004) has been reauthorized, and new parameters for defining learning disabilities (LD) have been established that provide more flexibility for corresponding state and local regulations. The field now has a unique opportunity to shape the practice of LD diagnosis and should consider important conceptual, theoretical, empirical, economic, legal, and practical issues related to LD diagnosis. This article highlights five key recommendations for the diagnostic definition of learning disabilities: (1) the definition needs to be unambiguous; (2) it must be universally accepted across professions, researchers, and governmental entities; (3) it must incorporate clearly defined subtypes of learning disabilities; (4) it must be empirically supported; and (5) it must point to valid, reliable, and cost-effective procedures for the identification of children with and without learning disabilities. Consideration of these points may help the field to avoid repeating past mistakes and returning to the folly of poor LD diagnostic practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bronze is beautiful but pale can be pretty: The effects of appearance standards and mortality salience on sun-tanning outcomes.

Objective: Using the terror management health model (J. L. Goldenberg & J. Arndt, 2008), the authors examined tanning outcomes as a function of priming tanning-relevant standards for attractiveness after reminders of death. Design: Study 1 consisted of 101 female college students recruited from a midwestern university; Study 2 consisted of 53 female participants recruited from a beach in south Florida. In both experiments, participants answered questions about their mortality or a control topic, and were presented with a fashion article that highlighted either the attractiveness of tanned (just in Study 1), pale, or natural-looking skin. Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported suntan intentions (Study 1) and sunscreen intentions (Study 2). Study 2 also assessed participants’ interest in various sun protection products. Results and Conclusions: Study 1 demonstrated that mortality salience led to higher tanning intentions when the association between tanned skin and physical attractiveness was made salient and reduced intentions when the attractiveness of paler skin was highlighted. In Study 2, beachgoers, after reminders of death, reported greater preference for high sun protection sunscreen after reading an article about the attractiveness of paler skin tones. These findings contribute to an emerging understanding of how mortality concerns can influence health-related judgment and behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dynamics of death and meaning: The effects of death-relevant cognitions and personal need for structure on perceptions of meaning in life.

Do reminders of mortality increase or decrease perceptions of life’s meaning? The authors propose that death-relevant thought has divergent effects on meaning perceptions depending on individuals’ personal need for structure (PNS) or dispositional desire for structured knowledge. In prior research, high-PNS individuals primed with mortality-related stimuli were found to employ clearly structured conceptions of reality. Consequently, these individuals were expected to show stable or even bolstered perceptions of meaning when death thought was heightened. Low-PNS individuals did not show this tendency and were therefore expected to show decreased meaning under heightened death-thought activation. The results of Studies 1a–1d supported these hypotheses. Studies 2 and 3 sought to identify how low-PNS individuals might reaffirm meaning and found that death thought increased their willingness to explore novelty. Studies 4 and 5 directly tested the meaning-conferring function of novelty seeking among low-PNS individuals, showing that the consideration of novel interpretations of the world and their experiences affirmed a sense of meaning in life following reminders of death. Discussion focuses on the relationship between meaning and death and the unique ways low-PNS individuals respond to mortality concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postdivorce family therapy: Suggestions for professionals.

Reviews the literature describing the stress experienced by family members (the ex-spouse, mother–child, and father–child relationships) in the postdivorce transition. Findings indicate that the postdivorce transition period may be abbreviated and/or more successfully negotiated by professional interventions designed to (1) increase ex-spouse cooperation and support in both parents' continuing participation in raising their children, (2) improve the quality and effectiveness of parent–child communication, and (3) train both mothers and fathers in behavioral management techniques useful in their single-parent roles. Suggestions are made for postdivorce family therapy oriented toward helping both ex-spouses continue meaningful involvement with their children. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the existential function of religion: The effect of religious fundamentalism and mortality salience on faith-based medical refusals.

Decisions to rely on religious faith over medical treatment for health conditions represent an important but understudied phenomenon. In an effort to understand some of the psychological underpinnings of such decisions, the present research builds from terror management theory to examine whether reminders of death motivate individuals strongly invested in a religious worldview (i.e., fundamentalists) to rely on religious beliefs when making medical decisions. The results showed that heightened concerns about mortality led those high in religious fundamentalism to express greater endorsement of prayer as a medical substitute (Study 1) and to perceive prayer as a more effective medical treatment (Study 2). Similarly, high fundamentalists were more supportive of religiously motivated medical refusals (Study 3) and reported an increased willingness to rely on faith alone for medical treatment (Study 4) following reminders of death. Finally, affirmations of the legitimacy of divine intervention in health contexts functioned to solidify a sense of existential meaning among fundamentalists who were reminded of personal mortality (Study 5). The existential importance of religious faith and the health-relevant implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blowing in the (social) wind: Implications of extrinsic esteem contingencies for terror management and health.

In 4 studies, the role of extrinsic esteem contingencies in adjusting to shifting health-relevant standards when managing existential fears was examined. Study 1 demonstrated that after reminders of death, higher dispositional focus on extrinsic self-esteem contingencies predicted greater interest in tanning. Using a more domain-specific approach, Study 2 showed that, after being reminded of death, the more individuals smoke for social esteem reasons, the more compelling they find an antismoking commercial that exposes adverse social consequences of smoking. Study 3 explored how situational factors (i.e., priming a contingent relational schema) that implicate extrinsic contingencies facilitated the impact of shifting standard primes on tanning intentions after mortality salience. Finally, Study 4 found that mortality salience led to increased endorsement of exercise as a basis of self-worth when participants who derive self-esteem from extrinsic sources visualized someone who exercises. Together, these studies demonstrate that reminders of death interact with prevalent social standards to influence everyday health decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)