A reconsideration of the extinction hypothesis of warm up in motor behavior.

The extinction hypothesis derives from that part of Hullian theory which is concerned with inhibitory processes. It attributes a significant portion of postrest warm up (WU) to the extinction of conditioned inhibition (SIR) early in postrest practice. Experiments specifically designed to test the hypothesis provide supporting evidence. The boundary conditions of the hypothesis are sepcified. The few studies which satisfy these conditions tend to favor the extinction hypothesis, rather than the competing set and interference hypotheses. An outline is given of the experimental design suggested by the extinction hypothesis as most likely to lead to maximal SIR development. (35 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High Stability of Thin-Film Triodes to Nuclear-Reactor Radiation

Two thin-film triodes., fabricated by successive vacuum deposition of metal electrodes, a semiconductor, an insulator, and a gate electrode, and which exhibit good amplifying characteristics, were exposed to steady-state reactor radiation. Samples protected by a glass cover plate during irradiation survived reactor doses of 1.3 × 1016 n/cm2 (E > 0.3 Mev) and 2.4 × 1010 ergs/gm (C) without degradation. Stability in high-energy radiation environments may be attributed to polycrystallinity, conduction by majority carriers, and thinness of the thin-film devices. These results of steady-state irradiation substantiate previous indications from transient radiation tests which showed thin-film active and passive devices to be more stable than single-crystal devices by two to three orders of magnitude.     

Atomic data and spectral line intensities for the neon isoelectronic sequence (Si V through Kr XXVII)

The electron impact collision strengths and the spontaneous radiative decay rates are presented for the following ions of the Ne isoelectronic sequence: Si V, Ar IX, Ti XIII, Fe XVII, Ge XXIII and Kr XXVII. Data are given for the 27 levels that belong to four different configurations (2s²2p⁶, 2s²2p⁵3s, 2s²2p⁵3p, and 2s²2p⁵3d). By use of the atomic data calculations of the above-mentioned ions, the atomic data for all the ions with 14 ? Z ? 36 have been interpolated. Energy levels and level populations are presented for all the even-Z ions with 14 ? Z ? 36 (Si V, S VII, Ar IX, Ca XI, Ti XIII, Cr XV, Fe XVII, Ni XIX, Zn XXI, Ge XXIII, Se XXV, and Kr XXVII). The level populations are given for the three electron densities 10¹³, 10¹⁴, and 10¹⁵ cm^?3. Spectral line intensities are also presented for all transitions with intensities within two orders of magnitude of the most intense line in each ion.     

Development of the multidimensional index of life quality. A quality of life measure for cardiovascular disease

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to design a multidimensional measure of health-related quality of life appropriate for patients with cardiovascular disease that was psychometrically sound, brief, and easy to administer. METHODS: Qualitative interviews conducted with healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular diseases identified nine major quality of life domains. Based on the responses of 129 cardiovascular disease patients recruited from hospitals and clinics, a criterion-based approach was used to select 35 questionnaire items that best tapped these domains. Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Index of Life Quality (MILQ) were tested with a sample of 348 patients with various cardiovascular diseases. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha was 0.76 or higher for eight of the nine MILQ domains. Test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.73 or greater in all but two domains. Individual domain scores as well as a weighted overall quality of life index were correlated highly with self-assessed health and the number of heart-related symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The Multidimensional Index of Life Quality is a psychometrically reliable and valid instrument for measuring quality of life in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The MILQ also may be a suitable measure for other types of chronic diseases.     

Processing objective and question order effects on the causal relation between memory and judgment in performance appraisal: The tip of the iceberg.

This study extends the research on information processing in performance appraisal judgments. A critical aspect of this research is the relation between memory and judgment processes. Performance appraisal researchers have traditionally assumed that performance judgments are based on memory for specific behaviors; implicit in this assumption is the idea that as memory for specific behaviors improves, judgmental accuracy should also improve. The authors elaborate the circumstances under which performance ratings are more or less likely to be based on previously formed judgments as opposed to memory for specific information. Results indicate that the causal relation between memory and judgment is driven by contextual factors at the time ratings are required as well as at the time information is encoded. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multivariate analysis of the determinants of job turnover.

Developed and tested a multivariate analysis of the turnover process with 654 accountants (mean age 37 yrs). The following variables were measured: demographic variables, tenure, cognitive/affective orientation to current position (including multiple measures of job satisfaction and organizational commitment), perceived job security, intention to search for an alternative position, perceived existence of alternative positions, and intention to change positions. Turnover data were collected 1 yr later, and it was found that 22% of Ss had changed jobs. Results support the existence of significant relationships between the set of independent variables presented in the working model and actual turnover, but not the hypothesis that all variables influence turnover behavior through their impact on intentions to change position. Turnover was significantly influenced by age, tenure, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job security. Turnover behavior was also more strongly related to intentions to search for alternatives than to intentions to change positions. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)