Showing papers by "Bowling Green State University published in 1994"

The Mental Readiness Form as a Measure of Competitive State Anxiety

Abstract: Two studies were designed to test the validity of the Mental Readiness Form (MRF; Murphy, Greenspan, Jowdy, and Tammen, 1989) with collegiate athletes. In Study 1, male and female athletes completed the CSAI-2 and the original or a modified MRF within 60 minutes prior to competition. In Study 2, subjects completed two forms of the MRF with slightly different anchor terms, the CSAI-2, trait anxiety measures, and a social desirability scale. Overall, results indicated moderate to strong correlations between corresponding CSAI-2 subscales and MRF items, supporting its concurrent validity. The intercorrelations among MRF items were high, but were similar to the intercorrelations among CSAI-2 subscales. Correlations with trait anxiety also supported the concurrent validity of the MRF. None of the MRF scales or the CSAI-2 were significantly correlated with social desirability. The preliminary analyses in these studies provide initial support for the MRF as a measure of competitive anxiety when expediency is an ...

Steps toward determination of the size and structure of the broad-line region in active galactic nuclei. 5: Variability of the ultraviolet continuum and emission lines of NGC 3783

Abstract: We report on the results of intensive ultraviolet spectral monitoring of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3783. The nucleus of NGC 3783 was observed with the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite on a regular basis for a total of 7 months, once every 4 days for the first 172 days and once every other day for the final 50 days. Significant variability was observed in both continuum and emission-line fluxes. The light curves for the continuum fluxes exhibited two well-defined local minima or 'dips,' the first lasting is less than or approximately 20 days and the second is less than or approximately 4 days, with additional episodes of relatively rapid flickering of approximately the same amplitude. As in the case of NGC 5548 (the only other Seyfert galaxy that has been the subject of such an intensive, sustained monitoring effort), the largest continuum variations were seen at the shortest wavelengths, so that the continuum became 'harder' when brighter. The variations in the continuum occurred simultaneously at all wavelengths (delta(t) is less than 2 days). Generally, the amplitude of variability of the emission lines was lower than (or comparable to) that of the continuum. Apart from Mg II (which varied little) and N V (which is relatively weak and badly blended with Ly(alpha), the light curves of the emission lines are very similar to the continuum light curves, in each case with a small systematic delay or 'lag.' As for NGC 5548, the highest ionization lines seem to respond with shorter lags than the lower ionization lines. The lags found for NGC 3783 are considerably shorter than those obtained for NGC 5548, with values of (formally) approximately 0 days for He II + O III), and approximately 4 days for Ly(alpha) and C IV. The data further suggest lags of approximately 4 days for Si IV + O IV) and 8-30 days for Si III + C III). Mg II lagged the 1460 A continuum by approximately 9 days, although this result depends on the method of measuring the line flux and may in fact be due to variability of the underlying Fe II lines. Correlation analysis further shows that the power density spectrum contains substantial unresolved power over timescales of is less than or approximately 2 days, and that the character of the continuum variability may change with time.

Effects of poverty and quality of the home environment on changes in the academic and behavioral adjustment of elementary school-age children.

Abstract: Examined the effects of poverty and the quality of the home environment on changes in the academic and behavioral adjustment of elementary school-age children. Analyses are based on a subset of children (n = 473) from a national data set. The children completed an academic achievement measure in I986 (when they were 5 to 8 years old) and again in 1990. Mothers provided ratings of their children's behavior at the same rime points. Results showed that prior poverty status (number of years in poverty from 1982 to 1985) predicted decreases in math and reading scores and increases in antisocial behavior (from 1986 to 1990). However, number of years in poverty between the 1986 assessment and the 1990 assessment failed to predict changes in adjustment over and above prior poverty status. Quality of the home environment between the two assessments predicted positive changes in adjustment after accounting for poverty status. These effects were independent of child characteristics (i.e., sex, age, and race,) and re...

Brain opioids and mother-infant social motivation.

Abstract: Brain opioids were the first neurochemical system to be implicated in the elaboration of social-bonding processes. Although a variety of neurochemical systems help elaborate social rewards and specific social behaviors, the role of opioids in the control of maternal behavior remains controversial. Although a great deal of data indicate that intermediate doses of morphine can reduce maternal behavior, the evidence, taken together, suggests that endogenous opioids promote the regulatory control of maternal behavior, probably by providing feedback concerning the satisfaction that can be had from indulging in various maternal behaviors. Thus opioid blockade with naltrexone can reduce maternal competence in animals, while at the same time increasing maternal motivation. Opiate blockade likewise appears to increase the social motivation of rat pups, but reduces the reinforcing quality of interaction with the mother, suggesting that opioids provide feedback concerning the pleasurable qualities of social interaction in both mothers and infants. The clinical implications of this knowledge are not straightforward, but they generally suggest that clinically deficient social bonding might be capable of being strengthened via manipulation of brain opioid systems.

ERP and behavioral changes during the wake/sleep transition

Abstract: Event-related potentials (ERPs) following infrequent and frequent stimuli were studied as subjects moved from wakefulness to sleep. Subjects were instructed to respond to the infrequent "target" stimuli (attend condition) or to ignore the stimuli (ignore condition). Parietal P300, prominent following target ERPs in wakefulness under the attend condition, disappeared in association with reduced behavioral responsiveness and emergence of a central negativity (N350). The N350 and preceding and following positivities (P220 and P450) became the dominant feature of both target and nontarget ERPs under both attend and ignore conditions. The P220-N350-P450 complex was larger and peak latencies were shorter under the attend condition. Peak amplitudes tended to be larger following targets, especially under the attend condition. The findings suggest that, although the processes underlying P300 are less likely to be engaged, processing of stimulus deviance and task relevance continues in sleepiness and sleep, and is reflected by variance in N350 and related activity.

An Application of Expectancy Theory to Explain a Manager's Intention to Use a Decision Support System

Abstract: A continuing gap exists between the capabilities of sophisticated computer-based information systems and the extent to which these systems are used by individuals. Studies which have examined the relationship between system utilization and various user, system, implementation, and organizational variables have provided few consistent findings. A new approach to this topic is suggested by a recent study by Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw [11], which indicates that individuals' intentions to use a system determine subsequent use. A large body of psychology-based research also supports this relationship between behavioral intentions and subsequent behavior. This study employs expectancy theory, which has often been used to examine behavioral intentions, to explain managers' intentions to use a decision support system (DSS). The results imply that the variables of the expectancy force model are determinants of a manager's behavioral intentions to use a DSS, and the variables of the expectancy valence model are determinants of the attractiveness of using a DSS to a manager.

The Adult Persistence in Learning Model: A Road Map to Counseling Services for Adult Learners

Abstract: The Adult Persistence in Learning (APIL) model focuses on personal issues of the individual adult learner, learning process issues, and environmental issues related to the particular institution to guide counseling services for adult leaners. Factors that facilitate a realistic approach to adult learning provide the focus: self-awareness, willingness to delay gratification, clarification of career and life goals, mastery of life transitions, sense of interpersonal competence, educational competence, intellectual and political competence in learning, information retrieval from the institution, awareness of opportunities and impediments in the environment, and perceptions of the compati-bility of the learning environment. Counseling interventions for individuals and groups based on the factors in the model can aid retention of adult learners.

Curcumin-derived transients: a pulsed laser and pulse radiolysis study

Abstract: In this paper we report a time-resolved investigation of transients derived from curcumin, which may be intimately involved in the processes leading to its biological activity. Fluorescence and triplet quantum yields are respectively 0.06 and 0.11. The high percentage of internal conversion is proposed to proceed via H-transfer within the thermodynamically favored enol structure of what is formally a 1,3-diketone. The triplet energy (191 +/- 2 kJ mol-1), natural lifetime (1.5 microseconds) and self-quenching rate constant (5.0 x 10(8) L mol-1 s-1) have been determined. Oxygen quenching of the triplet leads to the production of singlet oxygen with unit efficiency. Curcumin quenches the latter species very inefficiently (2.5 x 10(5) L mol-1 s-1). The curcumin radical has been produced via three mechanistically distinct methods. This species is unreactive toward oxygen but is repaired by vitamins C and E and anthralin.

Does Participation in Interscholastic Athletics Affect Adult Development? A Longitudinal Analysis of an 18-24 Age Cohort.

Abstract: This study analyzes the relationship between athletic participation as a high school student and subsequent psychosocial development, using data from a national probability sample of American youth...

Sun compass-based spatial learning impaired in homing pigeons with hippocampal lesions

Abstract: The hippocampal formation is known to be critical for spatial cognition, for example, regulating the learning of environmental maps. But how is a spatial map learned, and what is the role of the hippocampal formation in the learning process? The sun compass is perhaps the most ubiquitous, naturally occurring spatial orientation mechanism found in the animal kingdom. The sun compass may also serve as a directional reference that supports spatial learning. We report that homing pigeons with hippocampal lesions were unable to use the sun compass to learn the directional location of food in an outdoor, experimental arena. Homing pigeons with lesions of the caudal neostriatum readily learned the same task, and showed appropriately shifted directional responses following a clock-shift manipulation demonstrating that they were indeed using the sun compass to learn the task. Finally, both hippocampal and control lesioned birds quickly learned a procedurally similar task where a color cue identified the location of food in the same experimental arena. The results indicate that hippocampal lesions impair sun compass use in the context of learning. As such, the results support the hypothesis that the importance of the hippocampal formation in spatial cognition may be related to its participation in a neural process in which information from a directional reference, in this case the sun compass, is used to learn the directional relationship among stimuli in space.

Gender differences in environmental concern among college students

Abstract: The debate over gender differences in environmental concern is sharply divided. One set of theories expects women to be more environmentally concerned than men while another set expects the opposite to be true. This study, based on a random sample of college students at a medium-sized midwestern university, tests the impact of gender on environmental concern while controlling for class standing and family income. The sample used in the final analysis consisted of 340 white students and 25 nonwhite students. Males were found to be slightly more likely than females to express environmental concern. Theoretical refinements regarding the effects of gender are drawn from marginality theory, and the overall relevance of gender is addressed.

Use of the theory of reasoned action to predict drug and alcohol use.

Abstract: The present study examines the role of self-esteem (SE) in the prediction of drug and alcohol use. Consistent with research on the theory of reasoned action, we suggest that alcohol and drug attitudes and subjective norms are more useful in the prediction of self-reported drug and alcohol consumption than SE. In the present study, measures of SE, drug attitudes, subjective norms, and drug use behaviors were collected from 2,074 high school and college students. Results indicate that drug attitudes and subjective norms do predict drug and alcohol use, but that SE does not add significantly to the prediction of the drug and alcohol behaviors.

Mathematics: Educational Tools for Diverse Learners.

Abstract: The problems diverse learners have in mathematics are analyzed in terms of teacher access to high quality educational tools — textbooks, videos, software, activity guides, and so on. The first sect...

Children's Invented Notations as Measures of Musical Understanding:

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of children's invented notations as a measure of their musical understanding. Notations were compared on the basis of their inventor's performance on tests of perceptual discrimination, performance by singing and playing, and their age. Sixty children aged between 4 and 8 years were tested for their perceptual discrimination with the rhythm and tonal subtests of the Primary Measures of Musical Audiation (PMMA) (Gordon, 1979). After each child reproduced a short folk song by singing and playing, he or she was asked to "write the way the song sounds". Three independent judges scored the children's singing and playing for their tonal and rhythmic accuracy and the children's invented notations for indications of tonal and rhythmic awareness. A correlation of all independent variables showed scores on PMMA rhythm, PMMA tonal, singing, and playing and the child's age to be significantly related. Because of the multicollinearity among variables, a princip...

Connections of the Piriform Cortex in Homing Pigeons (Columba livia) Studied with Fast Blue and WGA-HRP

Abstract: The piriform cortex in homing pigeons receives a projection from the olfactory bulb and is necessary for the operation of those aspects of the navigational map based on olfactory stimuli in these animals. The afferent and efferent projections of the piriform cortex were studied using retrograde migration of wheat-germ agglutinin horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) and Fast Blue, and anterograde migration of WGA-HRP. The piriform cortex was found to receive projections from, and send projections to, numerous regions and nuclei in the telencephalon, diencephalon and lower brainstem. A reciprocal connection with the parahippocampal region suggests that the piriform cortex and hippocampal formation may be part of a neural system that regulates navigational map learning. The piriform cortex also connects reciprocally with a large portion of the anterior telencephalon, including the cortex prepiriformis and hyperstriatum dorsale. In general, the pathway connections of the piriform cortex in homing pigeons are similar to those of the piriform cortex in mammals.

Total Quality Management and Supplier Partnerships: A Case Study

Abstract: INTRODUCTION In recent years, a growing number of manufacturing firms in North America have established supplier partnerships and supplier development programs.|1~ The partnering concept has received attention for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is quality. Dr. Edwards Deming has recommended limiting the supply base and forming single source relationships to reduce the sources of variance in incoming product quality.|2~ The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which includes supply quality criteria, clearly has increased awareness of the importance of supply management. Total quality management (TQM), a system of management whose primary objective is customer satisfaction, has broadened the historical definition of quality to include the quality of supplier produced materials.|3~ Quality management and partnering, or strategic relationships with suppliers, are inexorably linked. Published quantifiable data to support partnership effectiveness is difficult to find, particularly as it relates to quality management. Most partnership studies have been based on surveys of purchasing executive perceptions, have been descriptive in nature, or have used the automotive industry as the unit of analysis.|4~ Several case studies have appeared in the literature that highlight the benefits that can accrue from supplier partnerships. For example, the Campbell Soup Company has acknowledged that its "select supplier" program yielded $2.3 million in savings during the fourth quarter of 1990 alone, through reduced inventory levels, productivity improvements, and cost reductions.|5~ Unfortunately, this and similar case reports do not necessarily prove that supplier partnerships are the cause of the improvement. Management attention to problem areas might be the actual underlying cause of the change. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the Hawthorne effect, after the well known study at Western Electric's Hawthorne plant in the 1930s.|6~ The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationship between total quality management (TQM) and supplier partnering activities outside of the automotive sector. In this study, a carton manufacturer became involved in a TQM program that included supplier partnering activity with a buyer. Prior and post intervention data provide a good illustration of the impact a supplier partnership can have in achieving productivity gains and in achieving continuous improvement. Subsequently, the carton supplier was subjected to traditional purchasing practices by the buyer when an alternative supplier temporarily was utilized. The implications of utilizing traditional purchasing practices are explored, as are the difficulties in developing purchasing partnerships without the commitment of top management. This study has significant implications for managers along several dimensions--supplier selection and management, the role of central purchasing's decision-making criteria within an environment of supplier alliances, and the impact that successful alliances can have on both a supplier's and a buyer's quality improvement process. PARTNERING AS OPPOSED TO TRADITIONAL PURCHASING A partnership represents a purchasing philosophy that expands the relationship with a supplier beyond that typically found in traditional purchasing methodologies. A partnership involves such elements as the use of long-term contracts, a reduced number of supply sources, and a high degree of mutual trust between the two parties. The relationship is long term in nature and involves close collaboration and mutual commitment. Based on U.S. practice, one researcher has defined a strategic partnership as a "mutual, ongoing relationship involving a commitment over an extended period, and a sharing of information and the risks and rewards of the relationship."|7~ Another team of researchers found that cooperative buyer-supplier relationships typically were characterized by five attributes. …

Independent and interactive effects of nutrients and grazers on benthic algal community structure

Abstract: Algal responses to nutrients, grazing by Helicopsyche borealis, and concurrent grazing by Helicopsyche and Baetis tricaudatus were examined in recirculating stream chambers. Alagl communities, dominated by Achnanthes minutissima, Cocconeis placentula, and Synedra ulna, were primarily phosphorus-limited. Algal populations responded after only 6 days of nutrient enrichment. Initially, both the adnate diatom Cocconeis and erect diatom Synedra showed positive response to nutrient enrichment. Accumulation of algal biomass between day 3 and 6 in the P enriched treatment was resulted primarily from the growth of Synedra, an overstory rosette-like diatom colony. Such a shift in dominant growth from adnate to erect diatoms is a general phenomenon in periphyton succession in the absence of disturbance. Algal species showed differential responses to an increase of Helicopsyche densities. The accrual rate of Achnanthes continuously decreased with increasing grazer densities. The accrual rates of both Cocconeis and Synedra declined but reached plateaus between medium and high grazing densities. Baetis effectively and exclusively depressed Synedra and had no significant impact on Cocconeis. After concurrent grazing, algal communities were mainly dominated by Cocconeis (approximately 80% of total algal biovolume). The grazer' s mouth structures, grazing efficiencies, and mobility may account for the differential effects of concurrent grazing on algal communities.

Acceptance of moderate drinking by alcohol treatment services in the United States.

Abstract: This study was designed to survey the acceptance of moderate drinking as an outcome goal by alcohol treatment services in the United States. Of a sample of 330 randomly selected services, there were 312 potential respondents of whom 196 (63%) returned surveys that were usable. Three-quarters of respondents reported that nonabstinence was not an acceptable outcome goal for patients in their program; however, 17% of these respondents endorsed the statement that nonabstinence was acceptable for patients in other alcohol programs or for their own patients after discharge. Of the remaining one-quarter of respondents who found moderate drinking acceptable for their patients, 80% worked in outpatient programs and 70% reported moderate drinking as appropriate for only 1-25% of their clientele. Respondents endorsing moderate drinking rated the following factors as important when selecting outcome goals: severity of physiological dependence, drinking history, psychological dependence, previous treatment, criminal b...

Measurement of mundane TV behaviors: Remote control device flipping frequency

Abstract: Although overt behaviors (such as media consumption and related uses and gratifications) are fairly reliable survey items, mundane behaviors (such as channel changing frequency) are problematic. Respondents were asked to watch television in the presence of a hidden device that recorded the frequency of their RCD use. When these recorded counts were compared to their self‐reported survey responses regarding channel flipping frequency, there was evidence of underestimation of channel flipping. Irregularity of estimation was explained in part by excitement instrumental viewing motives.

Matrix representation of the nonlocal kinetic energy operator, the spinless Salpeter equation and the Cornell potential.

Abstract: A new procedure for solving the spinless Salpeter equation is developed. This procedure is implemented with the Cornell potential, where all of the required matrix elements can be calculated from analytic expressions in a convenient basis. Beginning with analytic results for the square of the momentum operator, the matrix elements of the nonlocal kinetic energy operator are obtained from an algorithm that computes the square root of the square of the relativistic kinetic energy operator. Results calculated with the spinless Salpeter equation are compared with those obtained from Schr\"odinger's equation for heavy-quark systems, heavy-light systems, and light-quark systems. In each case the Salpeter energies agree with experiment substantially better than the Schr\"odinger energies.

Negotiating the Transition to Junior High School

Abstract: Summary Investigated are the contributions of seventh graders' coping strategies and their perceptions of the school environment to predicting changes in their adaptation during the transition to junior high school. The students completed measures three weeks into the new school year and again three months later. Resource variables included students' use of approach and avoidance coping strategies in response to a specific transition-related Stressor, and their perceptions of their new school environment. Criterion variables included students' ratings of how effectively they coped with the specific Stressor, and their general adaptation to the transition. Zero-order and cross-lag correlations generally showed that the use of approach coping strategies and favorable perceptions of the school environment were associated with higher levels of perceived coping effectiveness and general adaptation to junior high school, while the use of avoidance coping strategies was associated with lower levels of perceived ...

Laparoscopic Vertical Banded Gastroplasty with Complete Transection of the Staple-Line

Abstract: The authors describe a vertical banded gastroplasty with complete division of the staple-line performed via the laparoscope

Brazilian Immigration to North America

Abstract: This article is a comparative study of Brazilian immigration to Canada and the United States. Analysis of recently collected data in Toronto Ontario and in a medium-size U.S. community facilitated the examination of the adaptation and adjustment experiences of a new group of immigrants to North America. This article begins with a discussion of the origins of this recent immigrant group and its rapid expansion. Next it focuses on the labor force activities of Brazilian immigrants and compares and contrasts their experiences in the United States and Canada. A final section examines social adaptation in North America by exploring linguistic and cultural dimensions. This article closes with a section on the future aspirations of these immigrants. (EXCERPT)