Showing papers by "Bowling Green State University published in 1992"

Logit Modeling: Practical Applications

Abstract: Introduction Logit Models Theoretical Background Logit Models for Multidimensional Tables Logistic Regression Advanced Topics in Logistic Regression

Development of a Self-Report Coping Measure for Elementary School Children

Abstract: Presents initial findings regarding the reliability and validity of a newly developed self-report coping measure for children. The study also addresses several conceptual issues (e.g., stressor appraisals, cross-situational consistency in coping). As per Roth and Cohen (1986), coping items were conceptualized as comprising approach strategies (i. e., Seeking Social Support, Problem Solving) and avoidance strategies (i. e., Distancing, Internalizing, Externalizing). Fourth through sixth graders (N = 481) rated their use of 34 strategies in response to both an academic and a social stressor. Factor analyses supported this conceptualization of the five coping strategies for each stressor. Internal consistencies and test-retest reliabilities of the coping subscales were in the .6 to .8 range, initial evidence of validity included significant correlations with peer ratings of coping and other indices.

Improved method for electroporation of Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract: We have developed a significantly improved method for the electroporation of plasmid DNA into Staphylococcus aureus. The highest transformation efficiency achieved with this procedure was 4.0 x 10(8) transformants per microgram of plasmid pSK265 DNA. This represents a 530-fold improvement over the previously reported optimum efficiency of 7.5 x 10(5) transformants per microgram of plasmid DNA after electroporation of S. aureus cells [9]. Identical results were obtained when electrocompetent cells, which had been stored frozen at -80 degrees C, were used. The improved efficiency is due primarily to the use of a modified medium (designated as B2 medium) and secondarily to the use of 0.1-cm cuvettes. Several other plasmids (pI258, pMH109, and pSK270) were also electrotransformed into competent cells using our procedure, and for each plasmid, the transformation efficiency was significantly reduced compared to that observed when pSK265 DNA was used. With respect to plasmid pI258, the transformation efficiency was 3500-fold higher than that reported previously for transformation of this plasmid into S. aureus RN4220 [9]. The optimized electroporation procedure was less successful in transforming other staphylococci. Electrocompetent cells of S. aureus ATCC 29213 and S. epidermidis ATCC 12228 produced 5.5 x 10(5) and 5 x 10(3) transformants per microgram of pSK265 DNA, respectively.

School Bonding, Race, and Delinquency

Abstract: While there is considerable evidence that blacks experience school in qualitatively distinct ways from whites, there has been a general failure to examine racial variation in the impact of school variables on juvenile misconduct. The purpose of this research is to describe the manner in which school bonding affects delinquent conduct, focusing in particular on the role of the school in the delinquent involvement of black youths. Our orientation is primarily a control theory one that suggests that the greater the degree of school bonding the lesser the likelihood of involvement in delinquent activities. Our review of the literature leads us to expect differential levels of bonding by race and across varying racial environments of schools, with resulting differential effects on delinquency. On the basis of a neighborhood sample of 942 adolescents, we identijj seven distinct dimensions of school bonding. The analysis reveals that blacks are at least as strongly bonded to the school as whites, that our model explains comparable amounts of variance in delinquency across race-sex subgroups, and that the racial composition of the school is generally unimportant in conditioning the effect of school bonding on delinquency. While our findings are generally supportive of control theory, a model that purports to be invariant across race, gender, and socioeconomic boundaries, we caution that such a conclusion may be both premature and mistaken. We discuss the implications of these findings and suggest that they be interpreted within a framework that also considers family and peer bonding.

Linking Purchasing to Corporate Competitive Strategy

Abstract: Charles A. Watts is an Assistant Professor of Management at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Watts received his D.B.A. degree from Indiana University. He has published articles in various professional journals, and is a previous Journal author. Kee Young Kim is Professor of Operations Management and Dean of the Graduate School of Business Administration at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. Dr. Kim received his Ph.D. degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of several books and numerous professional articles. Chan K. Hahn is Owens-Illinois Professor of Management at Bowling Green State University. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Ohio State University. Dr. Hahn is an active researcher in the field of purchasing/materials management, and is a previous Journal author. To compete effectively in the global marketplace, a firm must have a competent and strategically integrated purchasing organization. It is important that all functional area strategies and capabilities, including purchasing, be consistent with corporate competitive strategy. It is also critical that a company's suppliers have the capability to meet its strategic priorities. This article develops a conceptual framework to aid in linking purchasing to corporate competitive strategy and to other functional area strategies as well. The proposed model can be used to begin to integrate purchasing into overall corporate strategy. INTRODUCTION In a typical corporate setting, the purchasing function should play an important role in shaping the competitive capability of the firm in its marketplace. Recent surveys of manufacturing firms in the United States indicate that purchased materials account for an average of approximately 55 percent of the total production costs, compared with about 15 percent for direct labor costs.|1~ It is also well understood that the quality and delivery capabilities of any manufacturing firm are heavily influenced by the performance of its suppliers. Recognizing the importance of the purchasing function in overall corporate performance, most progressive firms pay close attention to their purchasing functions and attempt to improve the management of their supplier networks. For example, a recent study reported that almost half the companies surveyed had expanded the role of purchasing in the corporate strategic planning process.|2~ Yet a careful review of the purchasing management literature shows that the importance of the purchasing function in corporate performance has not fully been recognized in the United States. Traditionally, purchasing has been treated as a lower level operating function that has little to do with overall corporate competitive strategy.|3~ Much of the available literature on the subject treats purchasing strategy and policy from the perspective of narrowly defined operating level policies and strategies. For example, the most frequently discussed purchasing strategies in typical purchasing textbooks are related to the number of suppliers (single versus multiple), pricing strategies (cost or market-based), organization structure (centralized versus decentralized), and other operating level policies. Moreover, informal interviews and interactions with purchasing managers and top executives reveal that many of them still hold the archaic view that purchasing is an independent agency within the company. For example, some companies still use the position title "purchasing agent," and many managers still believe that they are simply an agent for the company and that they do not have any direct input into the firm's strategic management activities. Some purchasing scholars have tried to advance the notion that the purchasing department should be treated as a "profit center" rather than as a strategic organizational unit that contributes to overall corporate performance. The concept of purchasing as a "profit center" may be useful in demonstrating its potential contribution to overall corporate performance; however, this concept also can easily be misinterpreted as an endorsement of the view that purchasing is an independent agency. …

A Critical Role for "Affective Neuroscience" in Resolving What Is Basic About Basic Emotions

Abstract: Ortony and Turner (1990) asked "What's Basic About Basic Emotions," and they concluded "very little." They proceeded to advocate a "componential" or "mosaic" view of how emotional systems should be analyzed. Their thesis was flawed by their failure to consider the available neurobehavioral data. Genetically dictated brain systems that mediate affective-emotional processes do exist, even though there are bound to be semantic ambiguities in how we speak about these systems. This commentary summarizes key lines of evidence for coherently operating emotional systems in the brain and advocates the position that the issue of basic emotions can no longer be credibly discussed without adequate consideration of the relevant brain research in the area. The type of conceptual, logical analysis pursued by Ortony and Turner, in the absence of a thorough analysis of the available neurological data, is not an adequate basis for resolving what is basic about basic emotions. That the experience-hypothesis, as ordinarily understood, is inadequate to account for emotional phenomena, will be sufficiently manifest. If possible, it is even more at fault in respect to the emotions than in respect to the cognitions. The doctrine maintained by some philosophers, that all the desires, all the sentiments, are generated by experiences of the individual, is so glaringly at variance with hosts of facts, that I cannot but wonder how any one should ever have entertained it. —Herbert Spencer, Principles of Psychology (1855, p. 606) Emotion is a term used for many different purposes. There is a popular view that emotions are inherently more complex and harder to understand than other aspects of human thought. I maintain that infantile emotions are comparatively simple in character and that the complexity of adult emotions results from accumulating networks of mutual exploitations. In adults, these networks eventually become indescribably complicated, but no more so than the networks of our adult intellectual structures.

The reliability and validity of the 20-meter shuttle test in American students 12 to 15 years old.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was threefold: to determine (a) the test–retest reliability of the 20-m shuttle test (20 MST) (number of laps), (b) the concurrent validity of the 20 MST (number of laps), and (c) the validity of the prediction equation for VO2max developed by Leger, Mercier, Adour, and Lambert (1988) on Canadian children for use with American children 12–15 years old. An intraclass coefficient of .93 was obtained on 20 students (12 males; R = .91 and 8 females; R = .87) who completed the test twice, 1 week apart (MT1 = 47.80 ± 20.29 vs. MT2 = 50.55 ± 22.39 laps; p ⩾ .13). VO2peak was obtained by a treadmill test to volitional fatigue on 48 subjects. The number of laps run correlated significantly with VO2peak in males (n = 22; r = .65; F [1, 20] = 14.30 p ⩽ .001), females (n = 26; r = .51; F [1, 24] = 8.34; p ⩽ .01), and males and females = (r = .69; F [1, 46] = 42.54, p ⩽ .001). When the measured VO2peak (M = 49.97 ± 7.59 ml kg−1 min−1) was compared with the estimated VO2max (M = 48.72...

Halo and performance appraisal research: A critical examination.

Abstract: The different conceptual and operational definitions of halo are reviewed, and problems when using halo as a dependent measure in performance rating research and practice are pointed out. Four major points are emphasized: (a) There is no agreed on conceptual definition of halo; (b) the different conceptual definitions of halo are not systematically related to different operational definitions (i.e., measures) of halo; (c) halo measures may be poor indexes of rating quality in that different halo measures are not strongly interrelated and halo measures are not related to measures of rating validity or accuracy; and (d) although halo may be a poor measure of rating quality, it may or may not be an important measure of the rating process

Firm size and the information content of bank loan announcements

Abstract: We examine share price responses to announcements of bank credit agreements for exchange listed and NASDAQ firms and test whether there are systematic differences between large and small capitalization firms. For small firms both renewals and initiations of loan agreements generate significantly positive share price effects. In contrast, for large firms there is little evidence that bank credit announcements convey information to the capital market. Our results are consistent with arguments of Fama and Diamond that it is primarily small, less prestigious firms that receive benefits from screening and monitoring services associated with bank loans.

College students’ incorporation of initiator and restrictor roles in sexual dating interactions

Abstract: According to the traditional sexual script, men are the initiators and women the restrictors of sexual activities (McCormick, Brannigan, & LaPlante, 1984). While recent attitudes have shifted toward a more egalitarian standard (DeLamater & MacCorquodale, 1979) and sexual experiences are becoming more permissive (Finlay, Starnes, & Alvarez, 1985), it is not known whether this has resulted in changes in sexual scripts. Therefore, 50 men and 55 women were used in a self‐monitoring procedure to record three aspects of sexual frequencies: sexual initiations, responses to initiations and considering initiations over a two‐week period. The results indicate that men and women are guided by a similar sexual script with regard to responding to initiations and considering initiations, but not with regard to initiation of sexual activity. Men still initiate sexual activity more frequently than women. It was concluded that men and women still appear to be guided by the traditional sexual script with respect to initiat...

Current perspectives of singlet oxygen detection in biological environments.

Abstract: There is widespread acceptance that singlet oxygen is a key intermediate on one of the pathways leading to the phenomenon of photodynamic action. However, the identification of this moiety within a particular biological system and the determination of a direct link between its presence and a particular photodynamic effect is a goal which photobiologists have hitherto failed to achieve. The aim of this review is to assess the problems associated with such a goal and methods whereby they might be overcome. Initially the general photochemical and environmental factors which govern the ability of a photosensitizer to promote photodynamic action via the intermediacy of singlet oxygen are introduced and the fundamental parameters defining the formation, decay and reactivity of this species summarized. The experimental requirements for relating a particular photodynamic effect to singlet oxygen intermediacy are then analysed and the intrinsic properties of singlet oxygen which will influence this goal are discussed. Having concluded that the singlet oxygen detection method of choice for this purpose is that in which the IR emission at 1269 nm of this molecule is monitored, the advantages and disadvantages of pulsed and continuous wave photoexcitation of cellular systems are analysed. It becomes evident that, no matter what the future improvements in instrumentation are likely to be, the inherent natures of singlet oxygen and the biological system lead to a kinetic situation which will preclude a successful time-resolved solution to this problem. In contrast, experimentation with continuous wave systems holds out significant hope for the future. In particular, the use of phase modulation techniques to overcome background emission problems, the enhancement of photosensitizer optical densities as a consequence of higher extinction coefficients and/or improved photosensitizer delivery systems and the use of high power lasers and/or improved light delivery systems can, at least in principle, lead to the solution of the problem addressed herein.

Authoritarianism in the former Soviet Union

Abstract: Two studies examined the relevance of the authoritarian personality in the Soviet Union. In a 1991 Moscow quota sample, authoritarianism strongly predicted support for reactionary leaders and military actions and opposition to democratic and non-Russian leaders and to democratic activities. The positive correlation between authoritarianism and support for Marxist—Leninist ideology was significant but lower than in 1989. Consistent with the theory that conventionalism is a central attribute of authoritarianism, Russian authoritarianism predicted support for equalitarianism and opposition to laissez-faire individualism, whereas in a comparison American sample these relationships were reversed. The lower Russian consistencies on scales measuring norms of justice are interpreted as differences in how Soviets and Americans relate abstract thought and values to particular policies and activities.

Test-taking dispositions: A missing link?

Abstract: Test-taking dispositions and motivation have been proposed as moderators of employment test validity. In a simulated, multiorganization employment system, scores on the Test Attitude Survey (TAS) were found to moderate the validities of both an ability and a personality test used to predict a performance criterion. The criterion-related validity of the personality test was found to be higher for a subsample with less positive test-taking motivation than for a subsample with higher test-taking motivation. An opposite effect was found among the subgroups for the ability test. Range restriction and the predictability of individuals with high and low test-taking dispositions were examined as explanations for the findings

A Derivation of the Underlying Constructs of Just-In-Time Management Systems

Abstract: Researchers have recommended that the theoretical constructs underlying just-in-time (JIT) management systems be identified and developed if JIT is to be fully understood and its full capabilities realized. In this study, we advanced this conceptual development through an instrument based on the relevant literature and empirically deriving three underlying constructs: (1) operating structure and control, (2) product scheduling, and (3) quality implementation. We report a content analysis of these constructs and develop propositions regarding their relationships, predecessors, and outcomes.

The Analysis of Contingency Tables.

Abstract: Contingency tables and the chi-square test.- 2 x 2 Contingency tables.- r x c Contingency tables.- Multidimensional tables.- Log-linear models for contingency tables.- Some special types of contingency table.

The effects of early social isolation on the motivation for social play in juvenile rats.

Abstract: Fifteen-day-old rats were subjected to one of three housing conditions: mother-and-peer (family), peer, and isolation conditions. At 24 days of age, all subjects were rehoused individually. In Experiment 1, play behaviors were monitored in like-raised pairs. Despite their gross lack of social experience, isolation-reared subjects did not exhibit a deficit in frequencies of rough-and-tumble play. It is concluded that the fundamental motivation for rough-and-tumble play is relatively independent of prior learning in rats. Indeed, their elevated dorsal contacts suggested that isolation-raised subjects may have higher appetitive motivation for play. In Experiment 2, the levels of social motivation were compared between family- and isolation-raised animals, using a T-maze. The isolation-raised animals made reliably more choices for social interaction reward over food reward than family-raised animals. Although inconclusive, the results from the two experiments suggest that prolonged social isolation increases the appetitive motivation for social play.

The importance of comparative studies and ecological validity for understanding hippocampal structure and cognitive function.

Abstract: Building from the premise that hippocampal cognitive function has been molded by natural selection under natural environmental conditions, it is argued that traditional laboratory studies likely do not reveal the richness and complexity of hippocampal function. Research on the role of the hippocampal formation in the navigational behavior of homing pigeons is offered as an example to illustrate the advantages of using an ecological approach to understand hippocampal function. It is further proposed that dissimilarities in hippocampal anatomy, physiology, and neurochemistry found between species reflect species differences in the range of functions served by the hippocampal formation, as well as possibly the molecular and cellular mechanisms that support such functions. These differences notwithstanding, it is suggested that, from an evolutionary perspective, the primary function of the hippocampal formation is a role in some aspect of spatial cognition. Dissimilarities in hippocampal structure and function among extant species are viewed as resulting from differences in evolutionary selective pressure and evolutionary history.

Oxytocin effects on emotional processes: separation distress, social bonding, and relationships to psychiatric disorders.

Abstract: Centrally administered oxytocin exerts powerful effects on a large variety of behavioral and physiological processes.'t2 As documented in many chapters of this volume, a substantial role for oxytocin has been established in the control of sexual and maternal behaviors in all mammalian species that have been studied. Homologous patterns of behavior have been observed following central administration of the evolutionary precursor, vasotocin, into avian and reptilian species, suggesting a remarkable conservation of sociosexual functions for this family of posterior pituitary nonapeptides.) The behavioral effects of oxytocin offer a prime example of a general principle which seems to be emerging from neuropeptide research-that there is a functional harmony between the peripheral and central effects of neuropeptides. One working premise of our research is that this principle holds not only for the physiological and behavioral effects of these hormones, but that it also extends to the emotional/psychological effects of these peptides within the brain. Indeed, neuropeptides may serve as key neuromodulators within the genetically provided emotional operating systems of the brain that coordinate behavioral, physiological, and psychological responses to major life-challenging circum~tances.~J In other words, many peptide systems may serve command functions in the brain that help synchronize a variety of bodily and brain systems to unconditionally promote coherent organismic response to primal survival needs. Other examples of this general principle are the ability of angiotensin to conserve water in the periphery and instigate thirst centrally,6 the ability of insulin to conserve fuel peripherally and to facilitate satiety centrally,' the ability of MSH to promote pigmentary camouflage peripherally and hiding behaviors centrally,8 the ability of CRF to promote stress responses peripherally and anxiety ~entrally,~ and the ability of LH-RH to promote gonadal readiness peripherally and sexual urgency centrally.'O One of the most striking examples of this principle is the ability of oxytocin to mediate maternal intent, sexual readiness, and perhaps neuropsychic emotional patterns that go along with these behavioral tendencies. Although neurodynamic emotional processes are difficult to measure empirically, some indication of the status of such putative brain systems can be obtained through the analysis of the unconditional emotive behavior patterns in animal^.^.^ A straightforward emotional prediction is that brain oxytocin may evoke warm positive feelings of social strength and comfort when aroused by peripheral stimuli. For instance, as mother and infant share in the nursing experience, brain oxytocin

Sex polymorphism in silene acaulis (caryophyllaceae) and the possible role of sexual selection in maintaining females

Abstract: Pollen accumulation rates and their relationship to stigma morphology and pollinator visitation behavior were compared between female and hermaphrodite sex morphs of the alpine plant Silene acaulis var. subacaulescens (Caryophyllaceae). Although stigmas of female and perfect flowers collected comparable pollen loads, stigmas of female flowers became receptive earlier in anthesis and therefore recruited a larger number of pollen tubes. Together with early receptivity young female flowers had a larger stigmatic area with longer papillae than did perfect flowers. Pollinator behavior also differed between morphs, with bumble bees spending more time probing female than perfect flowers. Differences in stigma receptivity schedules of female and perfect flowers have consequences for different opportunities for sexual selection in the two sex morphs. Female flowers, by providing a more effective gametophytic screen, have the potential to produce higher quality offspring. This is proposed as a further compensatory advantage maintaining females, with a single fitness function, in populations containing hermaphrodites which have both male and female fitness functions.

Profile: Channel repertoire in the presence of remote control devices, VCRs and cable television

Abstract: Channel repertoire is the number of available channels that viewers choose to watch. This study examined channel repertoire in the presence of several “new media environment” variables, including remote control devices (RCDs). Channel repertoire and RCD usage were measured within a 2X2 matrix of VCR ownership and cable subscription. Results indicate that the use of RCDs and VCRs do not substantially increase channel repertoire. The study suggests the influence of some motivations that underlie RCD usage and channel repertoire.

Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on the endosymbiont load of rhopalodia gibba and epithemia turgida (bacillariophyceae)1

Abstract: Diatoms of the family Epithemiaceae possess a unicellular nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterial endosymbiont. We investigated the potential of extracellular nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations to affect the endosymbiont load of Rhopalodia gibba O. Mull, and Epithemia turgida Ehr. in field and culture populations. In a growth chamber experiment, monoclonal cultures of R. gibba were exposed to three levels of nitrate-nitrogen. Nutrient-diffusing substrates were used in a lake environment to create nine microhabitats of varying nitrogen and phosphorus ratios for natural populations of R. gibba and E. turgida. The number of endosymbionts per diatom increased as ambient nitrogen became limiting; mean endosymbiont volume increased as nitrogen increased. The mean endosymbiont surface area: volume ratio decreased with increasing nitrogen. Total endosymbiont volume per diatom (the product of the number of endosymbionts per diatom and their individual biovolumes) did not have a simple response to increasing nitrogen. Phosphorus limitation uncoupled the relationship between endosymbiont load and nitrogen. We suspect that flexibility of the endosymbiont load can reduce the metabolic cost to the diatom if the endosymbionts are dependent on the diatom for a resource.

Planning Text Together: The Role of Critical Reflection in Student Collaboration

Abstract: Writing instructors often assign collaborative writing activities as a way to foster reflective thinking; many assume that the very act of explaining and defending ideas in the presence of a respon...

A short-term longitudinal study of the early development of self-regulation

Abstract: A short-term longitudinal study was conducted to determine whether self-regulation at 4 years could be predicted from child and maternal measures obtained when the children were age 24 months. The subjects were 69 children and their mothers drawn from the general community. Criterion behaviors assessed at 4 years were those suggestive of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Of the 24-month child measures, maternal ratings of the child's impulsivity and attention span, plus an objective measure of delay ability, were the most effective predictors. Maternal negativity, as assessed in mother-child interaction, predicted the criterion behaviors, even after the child's behavior as an elicitor of maternal behavior was controlled. Maternal child-rearing attitudes on the dimensions of warmth and aggravation were also effective predictors, even after controlling for the child's emotionality as a possible determinant of maternal attitudes. It is argued that the results with the maternal attitude measures provide support for the hypothesis that maternal behavior is a contributor to the development of self-regulation.

Ties that Bind: Three Studies of Obligation in Adult Relationships with Family

Abstract: This article reports three exploratory studies that describe aspects of obligation in ongoing relationships with family. Using independent samples of young married couples and single, college-age adults, five dimensions of felt obligation were identified as expectations for appropriate behavior about: (1) family contact and participation in family ritual; (2) assistance; (3) conflict avoidance; (4) self-sufficiency; and (5) personal sharing in specific relationships with kin. Initial evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was established for the felt obligation measure. Gender differences in felt obligation dimensions were found across studies with women generally reporting higher levels of obligation than did men. Felt obligation differed as a function of kinrole relationship (i.e. parents and in-laws, mother, father) across the three studies. Among married couples, felt obligation towards parents was related to higher levels of psychological symptomatology, depression and neuroticism for men b...

Art Therapy and Self-Esteem

Abstract: The impact of creating art and how this process relates to the elevation of self-esteem is often taken for granted by professionals in both art therapy and other fields. While there is little doubt...