Child’s play: Facilitating the originality of creative output by a priming manipulation.

When children play, they often do so in very original ways. However, with the responsibilities of adulthood, this playful curiosity is sometimes lost and conventional responses often result. In the present study, 76 undergraduates were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions before creative performance was assessed in a version of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT; E. P. Torrance, 1974). In a control condition, participants wrote about what they would do if school was cancelled for the day. In an experimental condition, the instructions were identical except that participants were to imagine themselves as 7-year-olds in this situation. Individuals imagining themselves as children subsequently produced more original responses on the TTCT. Further results showed that the manipulation was particularly effective among more introverted individuals, who are typically less spontaneous and more inhibited in their daily lives. The results thus establish that there is a benefit in thinking like a child to subsequent creative originality, particularly among introverted individuals. The discussion links the findings to mindset factors, play and spontaneity, and relevant personality processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diffusion in a porous system in crossed electric and magnetic fields

Diffusion in crossed electric and magnetic fields is considered; measurements are reported on accelerated diffusion in the extraction of low-molecular-weight fractions (hemicelluloses) from cellulose and of copper salts from viscose fiber.Notation j₁ current density in liquid - j_p current density inside particles - c concentration in liquid - c₀ concentration in particles - t time - D₁=mD mass-conduction factor [17] - D diffusion coefficient - m porosity - D_c=D(m/m_v) concentration-conduction factor [17] - m_v volumetric porosity - x coordinate - s=2.46 design factor (for a film) - film half-thickness Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 31, No. 5, pp. 831–838, November, 1976.     

Antacid and sorption properties of mushroom powder made of dried solids (Pleurotus ostreatus)

It was established in the experiments determining the influence of the mushroom powder on acidity of the HCl solution by means of ionometrical method that in 15 minutes after introduction 3 gram of the powder pH of the solution increases from 1.62 up to 2.64. The stable meaning of the solution pH (without fall) can be (held) the same in the presence of the powder more than 23 hours. The mushroom powder reduces the high content of the ions Pb2+ and Cu2+ in the solution from 8.8 x 10(-6) up to 3.3 x 10(-6) and from 11.8 x 10(-6) up to 8.6 x 10(-6) mole/ml correspondingly. The trustworthy reduction (fall) of the concentration of the ions Zn2+ and Cd2+ in the filtrate was not discovered (found out). To determine the content of metal in the solution the method of flaming atomic adsorption.     

Analysis of the acoustic signal heard during boiling on a heat conducting massive body

The acoustic signal has been analyzed which is heard when a liquid boils on a heat conducting massive body. The parameters of that signal have been established on the basis of which the first critical boiling mode can be predicted.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 902–905, November, 1972.     

Creativity as flexible cognitive control.

Creative individuals have been described in terms suggestive of greater automatic processing (e.g., defocused attention, looser associations) and greater controlled processing (e.g., greater abilities to focus while working on a creative task). Both views cannot be correct from a static ability-related perspective. On the other hand, both views could be correct if creative individuals are better able to modulate the functioning of their cognitive control system in a context-sensitive manner. The present study (N = 50) assessed individual differences in creativity in terms of original responses on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1974) and also in terms of creative behavior on the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (Carson, Peterson, & Higgins, 2005). The same participants performed a color–word Stroop task. Creative individuals were neither more nor less capable of overriding cognitive conflicts on incongruent (relative to congruent) Stroop trials. On the other hand, creative individuals displayed more flexible cognitive control, as defined by greater cognitive control modulation from trial to trial. Implications for theories of creativity and its underlying processing basis are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optical properties,defects, and composition of La<Subscript>3</Subscript>Ga<Subscript>5.5</Subscript>Ta<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>O<Subscript>14</Subscript> crystals

La₃Ga_5.5Ta_0.5O₁₄ crystals were grown in pure argon and in an argon + 2% oxygen atmosphere. The growth atmosphere significantly effects the elemental composition of the crystals, their color, and the genesis and intensity of absorption bands in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared spectral regions. Two types of defects were identified in the crystals: planar interstitial defects and nearly spherical vacancy-type defects.     

Multiangle Spectrophotometric Methods of Reflection for Determining Refractive Coefficients

Russian Microelectronics - The features of the development and application of the procedures for measuring refractive coefficients based on multiangle spectrophotometric methods of reflection are...     

Optical transmission spectra and electrical properties of langasite and langatate crystals as dependent on growth conditions

The optical transmission spectra and electrical properties of langasite (La₃Ga₅SiO₁₄) and langatate (La₃Ta_0.5Ga_5.5O₁₄) single crystals are studied experimentally in relation to the oxygen concentration in an argon-oxygen atmosphere of growth. The variation of langatate conductivity with temperature under a constant electric field is examined over the range 20 to 500°C. Its dependence on current-carrying material is investigated for an Ir, Au/Ti, or Ag/Cr coating.