Showing papers by "Southern Illinois University Carbondale published in 1987"

Analysis and synthesis of research on responsible environmental behavior: A meta-analysis.

Abstract: Despite the wealth of information which exists concerning environmental behavior, it is not known which variable or variables appear to be most influential in motivating individuals to take responsible environmental action. A meta-analysis of environmental behavior research was undertaken in an attempt to determine this. An exhaustive search of the empirically based environmental behavior research conducted over the past decade yielded a substantial number of studies representative of a broad academic base. The characteristics and findings of these studies served as the data for the meta-analysis. As a result of the meta-analysis, the following variables were found to be associated with responsible environmental behavior: knowledge of issues, knowledge of action strategies, locus of control, attitudes, verbal commitment, and an individual's sense of responsibility. A model of predictors of environmental behavior is proposed.

Content and Formal Schemata in ESL Reading

Abstract: This article reports the results of an experiment investigating the simultaneous effects on ESL reading comprehension of both culture-specific content schemata and formal schemata, as well as any potential interaction between them. In the study, high-intermediate ESL students read, recalled, and answered questions about each of two texts. For each of two groups of readers (students of Muslim and Catholic/Spanish backgrounds), one text had culturally familiar content, the other culturally unfamiliar content. Within each group, one half of the subjects read the texts in a familiar, well-organized rhetorical format, the other half read the texts in an unfamiliar, altered rhetorical format. Results showed the conditions expected to yield good reading comprehension (familiar content, familiar rhetorical form) did so. Similarly, the conditions expected to yield poor reading comprehension (unfamiliar content, unfamiliar rhetorical form) did so. More interestingly, the results for the “mixed” conditions (familiar content, unfamiliar rhetorical form; unfamiliar content, familiar rhetorical form) indicated that content schemata affected reading comprehension to a greater extent than formal schemata. Specific results are presented and discussed, as are limitations of the study and teaching implications.

Optimal Decision Fusion in Multiple Sensor Systems

Abstract: The problem of optimal data fusion in the sense of the Neyman-pearson (N-P) test in a centralized fusion center is considered. The fusion center receives data from various distributed sensors. Each sensor implements a N-P test individually and independently of the other sensors. Due to limitations in channel capacity, the sensors transmit their decision instead of raw data. In addition to their decisions, the sensors may transmit one or more bits of quality information. The optimal, in the N-P sense, decision scheme at the fusion center is derived and it is seen that an improvement in the performance of the system beyond that of the most reliable sensor is feasible, even without quality information, for a system of three or more sensors. If quality information bits are also available at the fusion center, the performance of the distributed decision scheme is comparable to that of the centralized N-P test. Several examples are provided and an algorithm for adjusting the threshold level at the fusion center is provided.

Modes of social support: The social support behaviors (SS‐B) scale

Abstract: The SS-B appears to be a promising measure of five modes of available supportive behavior: emotional support, socializing, practical assistance, financial assistance, and advice/guidance. The measure was designed to assess supportive behavior available from family and from friends. For specific purposes the measure might be modified to tap enacted supportive behavior, as was done in Study 4, or might focus on different sources (cf. Tardy, 1985). Further evidence of the divergence of mode-specific scales would be valuable and might be demonstrated by comparing samples with mode-specific deficits, by comparing support received for different problem types (in a more sophisticated fashion than was done here), and by showing differentiated associations between modes of support and various outcome variables. The reliable and valid assessment of specific modes of supportive behavior is an important agenda item in social support research: Such a measure would allow more elaborate theories to be tested, and will undoubtedly prove essential in a complete understanding of social support processes.

Judgement and decision: theory and application

Abstract: INTR ODUCT ION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ...... 139 THE ORETICAL OR IENTAT ION S . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . ........ . . . .. . .... . . 1 4 1 Historical Background ....... . ......... ..... . . . . . . . . . . ... .. . . . ..... . . . 1 4 1 Prescriptive Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 141 Algebraic Models of Judgment and Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .... . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . ... 1 44 Information Processing Orientations . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . 145 JU DGMENT AN D DEC ISI ON PR OCE SSE S . . . . . . .... . .. . ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Sources of Information and Uncertainty . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . .. . 147 Bases for Inferences 149 Conflict, Integration, and Tradeoff 1 5 1 Behavioral Strategies i n Judgment and Choice 152 Development of Judgment and Decision Skills . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . ..... . . .. . . ... ..... . . . . . ... . 154 APPLICAT ION S OF THE OR Y AN D R ESEARCH . . . . . . .. .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 155 Building a Structure for the Problem .. . . .... ....... . . . . . .. . . ... . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . .... . . 155 Incorporating Judgments into the Aid ...... . . ........ 156 Evaluation and Implementation of Decision Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . .. . . . . . ... . . . . . . .. . . 1 58 C ONC LUS ION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 59

The Leader/Member Attribution Process

Abstract: The literature regarding leader and member attributional responses is reviewed and an interactive attributional model is proposed. Combinations of leader and member attributions considered in conjunction with the literature on attributional biases suggest that, under some conditions, conflicting attributions may occur. Strategies for maintaining healthy and productive leader/member interactions are proposed and implications of the model for the wider context of leader/member relations are discussed.

Celebrity Advertising: A Review and Synthesis

Abstract: This paper reviews the current boom in celebrity advertising. More specifically, the objectives of this paper are fivefold: (1)to provide a historical overview of celebrities in advertising, and to...

Book review: MENTAL SPACES: ASPECTS OF MEANING CONSTRUCTION IN NATURAL LANGUAGE by Gilles Fauconnier (Bradford/MIT Press)

Abstract: Expert systems are now recognized as key elements in the computing systems of the future, and the most significant applications of AI. Expert systems are already being used in such varied fields as medicine, engineering, chemistry and business.

Spontaneous cognitive strategies for the control of clinical pain and stress

Abstract: The spontaneous cognitive strategies employed by 75 patients undergoing dental extractions or mandibular block injections were elicited using a structured interview. Interest focused on the relationship between these strategies and several personality variables, including state and trait anxiety, locus of control, and absorption. In addition, the effect of strategy utilization on perceived pain and stress was assessed. Fourty-four percent of the patients employed cognitive strategies designed to minimize pain and stress, while 37% catastrophized, engaging in cognitive activity which exaggerated the fearful aspects of their experience. Only 19% of the patients denied any cognitive activity during the clinical procedure, and many of these used noncognitive coping strategies. Discriminant analysis revealed that situational anxiety was associated with the use of cognitive coping strategies. Catastrophizing was associated with increasing age, past dental stress, and higher levels of stress vulnerability (high trait anxiety and external locus of control). Copers reported less stress than catastrophizers but not less pain.

Hypergeometric functions over finite fields

Abstract: In this paper the analogy between the character sum expansion of a complex-valued function over GF(q) and the power series expansion of an analytic function is exploited in order to develop an analogue for hypergeometric series over finite fields. It is shown that such functions satisfy many summation and transformation formulas analogous to their classical counterparts.

Effects on ESL Reading of Teaching Cultural Content Schemata.

Abstract: Research by Gatbonton and Tucker (1971) showed that due to cultural misunderstandings, EFL students drew incorrect assumptions when reading unfamiliar texts; however, when provided with pertinent cultural information, their performance increased significantly. Similar findings were reported by Yousef (1968). Steffensen, Joag-dev, and Anderson (1979) demonstrated that implicit cultural knowledge presupposed by a text and the reader's own cultural background knowledge interact to make texts based on one's own culture easier to read and understand than syntactically and rhetorically equivalent texts based on less familiar, more distant cultures. Johnson (1981) demonstrated that the cultural origin of a text has a greater effect on ESL reading comprehension than does linguistic complexity. The related pedagogical question is: “Can we improve students' reading by helping them to build background knowledge on the topic prior to reading?” Available pedagogical research in English as a first language suggests an affirmative answer to this question (Stevens 1982). The present study investigated this question for English as a second language. Using pre- and posttests with experimental and control groups of intermediate-level ESL students, half of each group receiving syntactically more complex versions of the test passages than the other half, the experimental group was taught appropriate cultural background information between pre- and posttesting. Results showed that by providing the students with first-hand experiential knowledge, reading comprehension, as measured by objective tests as well as by a free written recall test, was facilitated. Differences in the syntactic complexity showed no significant effect on ESL reading comprehension.

A study of intercellular bridges during spermatogenesis in the rat

Abstract: A morphological evaluation of intercellular bridges was undertaken during rat spermatogenesis. The dimensions and relationships of the bridges were shown to vary during different phases of spermatogenesis. Cellular divisions of spermatogonia and spermatocytes resulted in the partitioning of pre-existing bridges by complex structures termed bridge partitioning complexes, which are described in detail, as is the process whereby new bridges are formed. The structure of premeiotic bridges was generally consistent; however, during spermiogenesis, the structure of bridges and bridge contents were modified at specific phases of their development. The plasma membrane density associated with the cytoplasmic aspect of early step 1 spermatids separated into multiple dense bands that encircled the peripheral aspect of late step 1 spermatid bridges. By step 2 of spermiogenesis, these dense bands became associated with several cisternae of endoplasmic reticulum, which later coalesced into a single saccule that completely encircled the bridge structure by step 4. At steps 10-13 of spermiogenesis, the single saccule of endoplasmic reticulum vesiculated into many smaller cisternae. Also, filament-bounded densities (measuring 10-12 nm in diameter) appeared within the bridge channel. At step 17 of spermiogenesis, the filament-bounded densities were no longer apparent, but an anastomosing network of endoplasmic reticulum, often in the configuration of a sphere, occupied the entire central region of the bridge. In step 19 spermatids, the smooth endoplasmic reticulum within the bridge channel and the multiple cisternae lining the bridge density were gradually displaced. The subsurface density of bridges gradually lost its prominence. Some cytoplasmic lobes were connected by extremely narrow (approximately 22 nm) cytoplasmic channels. Similar-appearing channels were seen on the surface zone of cytoplasmic lobes or residual bodies, this observation suggesting that channels were sites of severence of bridges. Just prior to the separation or disengagement of the spermatid from the cytoplasmic lobe, selected bridges appeared to open to form large masses. After spermiation, residual bodies were not found joined by bridges; but from the size of some of the residual bodies, it was suspected that they were formed by coalescence of more than one cytoplasmic lobe. Freeze-fracture demonstrated few intramembranous particles on either the P or E face of the plasma membrane forming the bridge; this finding suggested bridge structures restricted free lateral movement of membrane constituents across the bridge.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

A paradigm for performance studies

Abstract: This article (1) surveys research exemplars of performance studies by tracing their epistemological claims and methodological assertions through discussions of text, event, performer, and audience and (2) claims a paradigmatic relationship between oral interpretation and performance studies.

A study of the attitudes of pre-service teachers toward the use of computers

Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between the selected variables (gender, computer experience, and nature of computer experience) and computer attitudes (anxiety, confidence, and liking). Subjects were 60 college students who were enrolled in a general educational methods course. The Instrument used in this study was the computer attitude scale designed by Loyd and Gressard (1984a). The instrument contained three subscales: computer anxiety, computer confidence, and computer liking. Multivariate analyses of variance were conducted in order to see an interplay among the computer subscales. Post hoc comparisons were conducted on the variables that had more than two levels of a factor. Recommendations were drawn for pre-service teachers based on the findings of this study.

Cognitive process as a basis for MIS and DSS design

Abstract: Cognitive process research can provide specific, operational guidelines for MIS/DSS design by delineating the specific influences on managers' cognitive processes in sensing, formulating, and solving problems. The paper integrates some of the considerable body of literature on these processes in the framework of Piaget's model to illustrate the type of guidelines cognitive process research can provide. It also delineates three topical areas for future research: a Choice of Logico-Mathematical-Structures LMSs, b Development of LMSs, and c Application/Attribution of LMSs to sense, formulate and solve problems, and describes how research in these areas can help improve the effectiveness of MIS/DSS.

Existence of Wannier-Stark localization

Abstract: The eigenstates of an electron in an arbitrarily long periodic chain under the influence of an applied electric field are determined. The interaction of the electron with the electric field is divided into two components. The first component has the lattice periodicity and is incorporated into the system's periodic potential. It describes the electric-field-induced alteration of each of the periodic potential wells. The second component, a nonperiodic steplike function, is shown to have vanishing interband matrix elements. Indeed, it produces Wannier-Stark localization with its eigenvalues yielding Wannier-Stark ladders. Thus it is shown that the Wannier-Stark localization survives consideration of multiple electronic energy bands.

The Methods and Measures of Centrography and the Spatial Dynamics of Rape

Abstract: Technique known as centrography are presented in order to demonstrate their utility for describing and measuring the salient features of a spatial distribution and for facilitating temporal and comparative analyses in discerning trends and contrasting spatial distributions of crime. Centrographic techniques are applied to a 5-year data set of lone-assailant rapes classified by type of offender. The results indicate that different classes of offenders have relatively distinctive spatial distributions. Moreover, changes in the spatial distributions of offender classes, through time, are not uniform.

Comparative study of cytoplasmic elimination in spermatids of selected mammalian species.

Abstract: In the transformation of a spermatid into a spermatozoon, cytoplasmic loss occurs, allowing the sperm to swim unhindered. Cytoplasmic loss takes place via elimination of the residual body and through structures known as tubulobulbar complexes. A determination of cytoplasmic loss in several species was undertaken by using high-resolution electron microscopic morphometric techniques. During the period that tubulobulbar complexes are present, an average 53% cytoplasmic loss was recorded for five species (guinea pig, 48.8 +/- 6.2% (SEM); monkey, 60.3 +/- 4.3%; opossum, 54.5 +/- 4.4%; rabbit, 46.9 +/- 2.7%; and rat, 55.7 +/- 4.9%), whereas there was essentially no loss or gain in cytoplasm during the same period for round spermatids. Surprisingly, during spermatid elongation an approximate 36% loss of cytoplasm was also recorded for five species (guinea pig, 50.1 +/- 6.3%; monkey, 30.0 +/- 15.4%; opossum, 25.4 +/- 9.0%; rabbit, 42.4 +/- 8.6%; and rat, 34.9 +/- 11.9%), which is only partially (approximately 60%) accounted for by fluid pumping from the nucleus during nuclear condensation. A densification of the cytoplasm of elongate spermatids, as compared with round spermatids, suggests fluid is also pumped from the elongating spermatid cytoplasm. Fluid loss from germ cells may contribute to the seminiferous tubule fluid, a fluid previously thought to be solely of Sertoli-cell origin.

On the positivity of the second variation in finite elasticity

Abstract: where f is a vector-valued function on a bounded open domain O (1%" that satisfies f = d (d given) on a portion of the boundary 9 . Here (Vf) e = OfffSxj, i , j = 1, 2, . . . , n. I f f is a sufficiently smooth solution of the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations, then a further necessary condition for it to be a weak relative minimizer (a local minimizer in the Cx(~) topology) is that the second variation of I at f be nonnegative2'3; i.e., ~IAu) := f Vu. G[Vu] _> o I2

Potato remains from a late pleistocene settlement in southcentral Chile

Abstract: Taxonomic and evolutionary relationships between the Chilean cultivars ofSolanum tuberosum and the wild speciesS. maglia are explored. Widely separated centers of origin are postulated for the Group Tuberosum and Group Andigena varieties of the common potato. The first group is believed to have been domesticated originally in the humid forest-lands of southcentral Chile, while the second appears to have arisen in the high, cold Andes of Peru and Bolivia. In connection with the origin of the Group Tuberosum varieties, a 13,000-yr-old specimen ofS. maglia from the archaeological site of Monte Verde, Chile, is illustrated and described for the first time. These remains, the oldest on record for any wild or cultivated potato species, are important in that they help to establish the area of southern Chile as one of two main centers for evolution of the common potato.

Shape in morphometrics: Comparative analyses

Abstract: Comparative morphology has long been vexed by conflicting considerations of size and shape (relative size); a subsidiary consideration has been the effect of allometry (shape change with size) on results and interpretations. A review of history and opinion indicates the lack of universal acceptance of the following points: the inherent relatedness and/or separability of size and shape; the greater importance (anatomically, functionally, and/or taxonomically) of shape than size; the existence of residual size effects (allometry) after canceling the gross linear size factor from morphometric data; the failure of covariance matrix inversion to negate size always; the dimensionless quality of shape variables; the effect of logarithmic transformation; and the inadvisability of simple ratios. Two morphometric data sets (primate postcranial proportions, hominoid maxillary premolar odontometrics) encompassing significant size and taxonomic diversity in primates enable illustration and examination of these points. Although determination of optimum procedures is problematic, accuracy of classification and partition of variance among known morphogroups are criteria that can be applied. Intergroup distances generated after inversion of the covariance matrix show little improvement over raw size distances, unlike the shape distances expressed by shape vector (ratio), double-centered, Penrose, common part removed, and Q-mode correlation methods; very slight further improvement is accomplished using pooled within-group adjustment to remove residual size (allometric) effects. No improvement emanates solely from log transformation of measurements. Significant problems are indicated by the results obtained with interspecific regression residuals: particularly, large and small forms in the analysis become unrealistically similar. Also, regression-corrected distances still correlate with size even though the univariate residual values, by definition, do not.

AIDS awareness and information sources among selected university students.

Abstract: AIDS has received considerable attention in the media since cases began being reported in the United States in 1981, but little research has been focused on the penetration of educational messages about AIDS in sexually active groups. The purpose of this study was to assess both knowledge of and sources about AIDS in a sample of selected university students. A 20-item forced-choice inventory consisting of cognitive and demographic items and based on fact sheets from the Centers for Disease Control was constructed and distributed in a general education course to 161 university students selected through cluster sampling from a pool of approximately 500 potential respondents. Overall, knowledge of key AIDS-related facts was high. However, 37.3% of the sample was unclear about AIDS' lethal potential, 35.4% did not recognize AIDS-associated opportunistic diseases, and 31.7% did not relate risk of contracting AIDS with indiscriminant sexual behavior. The three leading reported sources of AIDS informati...

The effects of obesity and exercise on the pharmacokinetics of caffeine in lean and obese volunteers

Abstract: The effects of obesity, exercise, and the interaction of obesity and exercise were examined in 6 caffeine naive, untrained, nonsmoking, college males (3 lean (LV), 3 obese (OV)). Each subject received caffeine (oral, 5.83 mg·kg−1 lean body weight) or placebo (50 mg citrate) prior to 3 h of seated rest and prior to 90 min of treadmill walking (40% of their maximal aerobic power) followed by 90 min of seated recovery. Serum samples were collected at various times and analyzed for caffeine by HPLC. Pharmacokinetic analysis indicated that at rest, OV had a significantly higher absorption rate constant (Ka 0.0757 vs. 0.0397 min−1), lower elimination rate constant (Ke 0.0027 vs. 0.0045 min−1), and longer serum half-life (t1/2 4.37 vs. 2.59 h) in comparison to LV. In exercise, as well as at rest LV and OV had a large difference in the volume of distribution (43.2 vs. 101. 1) (rest, 54.1 vs. 103.1). Exercise consistently resulted in a decrease in the maximal serum concentration of caffeine and the area under the curve in OV while having no consistent effect on LV. The interactive effects of obesity and exercise could not be dissociated. However, these results demonstrate that both obesity and exercise have modified the pharmacokinetics of caffeine.

Social support appraisals and network resources

Abstract: The conceptual and empirical distinction of social support networks and subjective appraisals of support is increasingly evident in the social support literature. Support appraisals appear especially important in promoting well-being and may serve as the focus of preventive interventions. Yet little is known about the support network resources that promote positive appraisals of support. One hundred thirty-eight community residents participated in a telephone interview, yielding extensive data on the size, composition, and relationship characteristics of networks providing five kinds of support, satisfaction with support, and perceptions of support from family, friends, and others. Regression and canonical correlation analyses yielded complex findings. Support perceptions, and to a much lesser extent satisfaction, were associated with a variety of resource variables, most prominently the size of emotional and socializing networks, the reciprocity and complexity of network relationships, and the proportion of close friends and family members in the network. The implications of the findings for support-based interventions are briefly discussed.

Correlates of menopausal hot flashes

Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships of frequency, duration, and intensity of hot flashes with daily stress, ambient temperature, and caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine intake in menopausal women. Ten menopausal women suffering from hot flashes monitored these variables daily for 6 weeks. Intrasubject correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between hot-flash activity and stress for half of the sample; few women exhibited significant relationships between hot-flash activity and other variables. The results are discussed with respect to theoretical implications and treatment strategies.

Basis Sets for Molecular Interactions. 2. Application to H3N-HF, H3N-HOH, H2O-HF, (NH3)2, and H3CH-OH2

Abstract: Modifications of the standard 6‐31G** basis set as recommended in the accompanying paper are found to markedly lower the basis set superposition error (BSSE) in the title complexes, in contrast to enlargement to a triple‐ζ scheme or by addition of a diffuse sp shell or a second set of d‐functions without prior optimization, all of which lead to BSSE increase. After appropriate correction for correlation and superposition effects, all basis sets (with the exception of the standard 6‐31G** and 6‐311G** with their very large BSSE) predict the cyclic geometry of NH3 dimer to be more stable than the linear arrangement. Correlation and BSSE can shift the equilibrium intermolecular distance in H3CH‐OH2 by up to 0.4 Å. Failure to correct for superposition error leads to a drastic exaggeration of both the SCF and MP2 components of the interaction energy in this complex. Much better estimates are furnished by our recommended basis sets with their smaller superposition errors.