Benefits and challenges of generating community participation.

This article conveys important and useful information that practitioners can apply in their day-to-day professional lives by including citizen-consumer-client participation in their work. Three collaborative action projects are described that yielded significant benefits both for local communities and broader policy. These interventions, which were on topics as diverse as tobacco use among youth, recidivism among substance abusers, and chronic fatigue syndrome, were greatly enhanced by the involvement of citizens. The case studies are presented in such a way that the reader has a sense of how, when, and in what ways the interventions were collaborative as well as what the outcomes have been vis-à-vis public policy. The article is intended to encourage professional psychologists to collaborate more fully with community groups in efforts to expand and improve behavioral health services and policies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contractual Approach for Facilitating the Resolution of Dispute over a Contractor’s Failure to Comply with Time Limit for Notice of Delays

The enforcement of a contractor’s notice of delays and claims as “a condition precedent” to a contractor’s claims is a controversial issue among practitioners, researchers, and legal scholars. Strict enforcement or liberal interpretations (no enforcement) of time limit for a contractor’s notice have some implications for the success of projects and for the construction industry. This paper examines and compares the different views regarding enforceability of notice provisions. The paper evaluates those views and thereafter proposes an alternative contractual approach for dealing with a contractor’s noncompliance with the provision. The applicability of the proposed approach is evaluated vis-à-vis legal principles. The proposed approach appears to be practical and equitable. It could facilitate early resolution of disputes relating to notice. It could also make the outcome of notice-related dispute more predictable. Considering the contractual, legal, and practical problems that could arise from a strict enforcement and a liberal interpretation (no enforcement) of time limit for a contractor’s notice, the paper highlights the benefits of the proposed approach to the employers (project owners), contractors, and the construction industry at large.     

Association of Risk Attitude with Market Diversification in the Construction Business

In construction, many large firms are diversified, and their diversification is recognized as a corporate strategy for growth and risk management. Diversification indicates extended competition into a different market sector. It is a departure from a firm’s experience base, and it can be riskier than improving performance in the currently operating market. Then, contractors’ diversification and their aggregate pattern in the market, if there is any, are realized outcomes through competition among contractors over different market sectors. The competing contractors may have different risk attitudes, which are the subconscious but critical basis of their risk-taking behaviors in competition. This study investigates the association of contractors’ organizational risk attitudes with their diversification on the basis of simulated competition among multiple contractors. The simulation replicates the actual diversification pattern of large U.S. construction contractors. The results provide new insight on the relationship between contractors’ risk attitude and their diversification as well as their competitive success.     

On the politics of psychological constructs: Stop the bandwagon, I want to get off.

Since the inception of the "new" era of feminist scholarship, several constructs have achieved prominence and popularity as explanations of women's behavior. These include fear of success, androgyny, and the notion of a different voice vis-à-vis moral development. It is argued that such popularity is more a political than an intellectual event. Furthermore, the case is made that genre of concepts deters rather than advances the goals of feminist psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bystander anonymity and reactions to emergencies.

Two experiments with 179 undergraduates investigated the impact of anonymity on bystander reactions to emergencies and on the timing of bystander decision making. The experiments differed in the nature of the emergency (violent assault vs seizure) and in the speed with which the emergency developed from relative ambiguity to unequivocal clarity concerning the victim's need for help. In both experiments, an additional bystander's awareness of the emergency and the S's anonymity were crossed in a 2?×?2 factorial design. Anonymity vis-à-vis the victim had no effects on helping. Anonymity vis-à-vis the other bystander did affect helping, apparently by reducing evaluation apprehension. Whether evaluation apprehension enhances or inhibits helping depends on the expectations attributed to other bystanders. The timing of effects suggests that when emergencies are ambiguous, anonymity (through reduced involvement) delays making the decision regarding whether help is appropriate. Once emergencies are clear, anonymity (through evaluation apprehension) influences the decision regarding one's own obligation to intervene. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forms of Collaboration and Project Delivery in Chinese Construction Markets: Probable Emergence of Strategic Alliances and Design/Build

Changes in regulations to allow foreign contractors to qualify as wholly foreign-owned “construction enterprises” came into effect in September 2002 as one of the steps taken by the Chinese government to honor its World Trade Organization commitments. Emerging markets have a significant impact on the strategic planning of contractors; based on an electronic survey covering foreign contractors, clients (foreign investors), and design institutes, the design/build procurement route in conjunction with strategic alliances has been found to enable foreign contractors to enter the Chinese marketplace. The writers present a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis to inform readers where opportunities for development might be found and to warn of threats to entry. The research also found that mutual trust, synergistic strengths and complementarities, market demand for services, flexibility for both parties, and minimum change of top managers were ranked as the top five critical success factors for strategic alliances between foreign contractors and design institutes. Finally, medium-sized, state-owned, and large-sized design institutes were ranked as the first, second, and third preferences, respectively, for strategic partnering by foreign contractors.     

Development of a measure of experiential avoidance: The Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire.

Experiential avoidance (EA) has been conceptualized as the tendency to avoid negative internal experiences and is an important concept in numerous conceptualizations of psychopathology as well as theories of psychotherapy. Existing measures of EA have either been narrowly defined or demonstrated unsatisfactory internal consistency and/or evidence of poor discriminant validity vis-à-vis neuroticism. To help address these problems, we developed a reliable self-report questionnaire assessing a broad range of EA content that was distinguishable from higher order personality traits. An initial pool of 170 items was administered to a sample of undergraduates (N = 312) to help evaluate individual items and establish a structure via exploratory factor analyses. A revised set of items was then administered to another sample of undergraduates (N = 314) and a sample of psychiatric outpatients (N = 201). A 2nd round of item evaluation was performed, resulting in a final 62-item measure consisting of 6 subscales. Cross-validation data were gathered in 3 new, independent samples (students, N = 363; patients, N = 265; community adults, N = 215). The resulting measure (the Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire, or MEAQ) exhibited good internal consistency, was substantially associated with other measures of avoidance, and demonstrated greater discrimination vis-à-vis neuroticism relative to preexisting measures of EA. Furthermore, the MEAQ was broadly associated with psychopathology and quality of life, even after controlling for the effects of neuroticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Systematic Evaluation of Construction Equipment Alternatives: Case Study

Selecting the right equipment for the project is inherently a multifaceted cost and benefit evaluation process that is further compounded by the complexity of today’s building projects and the lack of systematic tools for the consideration of soft factors. This paper presents a detailed application example of a model based on an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach. This model was developed to address the difficulties experienced during the multifaceted process. The example illustrates how an AHP-based model helps address the multitude of qualitative, intangible factors, both among the factors themselves and then vis-à-vis costs, by means of a systematic and traceable process. The method enables project managers and their equipment selection teams to exercise their knowledge, intuition, and professional judgment, and at the same time to address the context and specifics of the particular projects under examination. The example should be helpful for construction practitioners dealing with similar equipment selection issues. Researchers may find interest in the implementation of a multiattribute-decision-making method for a typical construction management problem.     

Parents' acceptance of control needs and preschoolers' social behaviour: A longitudinal study.

Examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between parents' acceptance of their preschoolers' control needs and the preschoolers' social behavior (SB) vis-à-vis their parents. 30 videotapes of mother–child and father–child interaction in the child's home at age 2 yrs were scored, using the Rothbaum and Schneider-Rosen Parental Acceptance Measure (F. Rothbaum; see record 1988-26069-001). Child SB was assessed at ages 2 and 5 yrs using global ratings of Social Adaptation (SA; F. K. Grossman et al, 1980). There were no significant correlations between Parental Acceptance scores and concurrent SA. There was a significant correlation between maternal acceptance (MA) of control needs assessed when children were age 2 yrs and SA at age 5 yrs. The correlation of MA and children's SA was of greater longitudinal than concurrent significance. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problems in a study of the sexual response of women with cancer: Comment on Andersen and Jochimsen.

The present commentary criticizes Andersen and Jochimsen's (1985) article on the sexual functioning of women with gynecological cancer and breast cancer. Emphasis is on (a) choice of control group and implications for internal and external validity, (b) the role of nonspecific cancer treatments (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery) vis-à-vis mediating variables (body image and marital difficulties), and (c) interpretation of data regarding sexual functioning. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two measures of depressive cognitions: Their association with depression and with each other.

Evaluated the Cognitive Bias Questionnaire and the Scale of Attributional Style vis-à-vis the Beck Depression Inventory and each other in 2 undergraduate samples. The best correlations of each cognitive measure were in the .23–.44 range. Neither is clearly more closely associated with depression than the other; and the two are not closely enough related to each other to be viewed as equivalent. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Establishing Specificity in Psychotherapy: A Meta-Analysis of Structural Equivalence of Placebo Controls.

Placebo treatments in psychotherapy cannot adequately control for all common factors, which thereby attenuates their effects vis-à-vis active treatments. In this study, the authors used meta-analytic procedures to test one possible factor contributing to the attenuation of effects: structural inequalities between placebo and active treatments. Structural aspects of the placebo included number and duration of sessions, training of therapist, format of therapy, and restriction of topics. Results indicate that comparisons between active treatments and structurally inequivalent placebos produced larger effects than comparisons between active treatments and structurally equivalent placebos: moreover, the latter comparison produced negligible effects, indicating that active treatments were not demonstrably superior to well-designed placebos. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural Network Model to Support International Market Entry Decisions

Bidding for international construction projects is a critical decision for companies that aim to position themselves in the global construction market. Determination of attractive projects and markets where the competitive advantage of a company is high requires extensive environmental scanning, forecasting, and learning from the experience of competitors in international markets. In this paper, a neuronet model has been developed as a decision support tool that can classify international projects with respect to attractiveness and competitiveness based on the experiences of Turkish contractors in overseas markets. The model can be used to guide decision makers on which type of data should be collected during international business development and further help them to prepare priority lists during strategic planning. Information derived from the model demonstrates that the most important factors that increase attractiveness of an international project are availability of funds, market volume, economic prosperity, contract type, and country risk rating. Similarly, level of competition, attitude of host government, existence of strict quality requirements, country risk rating, and cultural/religious similarities are the most important factors that affect competitiveness of Turkish contractors in international markets.     

Nonspecific influences in group counterconditioning: A methodological and conceptual critique.

A review of group counterconditioning outcome research published from 1965 to 1975 found widespread methodological inadequacies and an absence of conclusive evidence for the efficacy of group counterconditioning beyond an alternative explanation for treatment effects. An analysis based on small group principles is used to show how group sources of nonspecific influence operate in group counterconditioning. In addition, a hypothetical model predicting group nonspecific effects germane to certain counterconditioning procedures is described. Critical reflections are presented vis-à-vis other forms of group treatment on the significance of the nonspecific influences operating in group counterconditioning. (French summary) (3? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approaches for Making Risk-Based Go∕No-Go Decision for International Projects

The world economy is becoming more global due to agreements such as the “Uruguay Round” in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The globalization of the construction industry provides tremendous opportunities for contractors to expand into new foreign markets. However, international construction involves all of the uncertainties common to domestic construction projects as well as risks specific to international transactions. Consequently, in opposition to the worldwide globalization trend, only 19% of the U.S. top 400 contractors actively seek international contracts. This paper discusses current approaches related to entry decisions into international construction markets. It then develops a comprehensive approach for making stable and systematic go∕no-go decisions for international projects. Finally, a pilot study is used to demonstrate and validate the approach.     

Russian physiologists' psychology and American experimental psychology: A historical and a systematic collation and a look into the future.

Sechenov was the originator of the basic theoretics of Russia's distinct physiologists' psychology. Pavlov and Bekhterev were its experimental verifiers and validators. Watson's Behaviorism arose as an independent development of American experimental psychology but interacted almost immediately with Russian-opened new experimental vistas. The vast influence of the English translations (1927 and 1928) of Pavlov's 2 conditioned reflex books on American psychological systematics is fully discussed, as is also the distinctness of the Pavlov system vis-à-vis specific American systems and American psychology in general. The language barrier is shown to be a unique factor in Russo-American experimental and theoretical parallels and divergencies. Brain behavior is the keynote of current Soviet physiologists' psychology and is increasingly dominating recent American experimental psychology. Significant Russo-American rapprochements in the basics of psychology seem imminent. (4-p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Security: The challenge of the 1980s.

Contends that in the 1980s the Social Security (SS) system has become the chief target for budget cutters in the Administration as an effort to save money. SS insures the earnings of 95% of all Americans against losses due to retirement, disability, catastrophic illness, or death. The financing of SS is too serious a matter to be subjected to budgetary politics. The status of SS is discussed vis-à-vis a short-term problem related to economic and demographic trends and their impact on SS trust funds and a long-term problem tied to a projected "aging boom" around the year 2020. Solutions proposed to the SS problem by the National Commission on Social Security are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of noneconomic factors in faculty union voting.

Examined the effects of trust in administrative decision making, desire for decision-making power, satisfaction with the content of the work, and satisfaction with economic issues on pro-union voting in a representation election. 109 full-time faculty members from a 4-yr private college completed questionnaires. Regression analyses showed that distrust in administrative decision making and dissatisfaction with the work content contribute significantly to a pro-union vote. Demographic characteristics had no significant effects on union voting. Further analyses supported the hypothesis that pro-union voting was motivated by the desire of the faculty to improve its power position vis-à-vis the administration. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contractor Selection Criteria: Investigation of Opinions of Singapore Construction Practitioners

The construction industry has witnessed the failure of many contractors due to varying reasons such as financial problems, poor performance, or accidents arising from the lack of adequate safety consideration at worksites. All these incidents have led to the impression that the current system of awarding the contracts is inefficient in selecting the contractor capable of meeting the demands and challenges of present times and hence needs to be reviewed accordingly. Therefore, in an attempt to investigate the current situation of the Singapore construction industry a questionnaire survey was conducted for accruing the data required to identify the important contractor selection criteria (CSC) and to draw upon construction practitioners’ opinions regarding the importance of those CSC in assessing the capabilities of the candidate contractors during the selection process. The research reported upon forms part of a larger study that aims to develop a computer-interactive multicriteria decision system for contractor selection involving identification of CSC for inclusion in the system, investigation of CSC preferences of construction practitioners, and establishment of weights for those CSC from their perceived importance determined through the questionnaire survey of Singapore construction practitioners. The study highlights that there are statistically significant differences in opinions regarding the degree of importance assigned to some CSC among public clients, private clients, and contractors. Findings from the study may act as an aid in improving the Singapore construction industry by helping construction clients identify multiple CSC apart from cost which should always be considered when assessing the capability of candidate contractors during the selection process, by assisting contractors in improving their attributes in line with clients’ preferences and by facilitating Singapore construction clients and researchers to develop a contractor selection system capable of assessing multiple attributes of the candidate contractors so that the risk of the project failure due to the selection of an inappropriate contractor is minimized.     

Assessment of hyperactivity: Isolating measures of high discriminant ability.

Research into hyperactivity has produced many psychometric and observational instruments that demonstrate deficits in hyperactive children vis-à-vis their normal peers. Despite the considerable information that such instruments have yielded, their relative power in classifying a child as hyperactive has yet to be explored. The present study focused on this issue by employing a discriminant analysis with a number of instruments, some of which have been used extensively by researchers and clinicians. Results indicate that only 9 of the 27 measures used had the potential to discriminate 13 hyperactive from 13 normal males (mean age 7 yrs 2 mo). Of these, only 3 measures were needed in the discriminant equation for accurate classification. It is suggested that isolating the best discriminant measures will improve clinical assessment and will be central to basic and applied research on hyperactivity. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)