Perspectives on Design and Innovation

A series of studies of top European and other firms has revealed patterns of design management associated with commercial success. Firms that invest resources and professional expertise in product and industrial design in traditional and new industries have been commercially more successful than firms that pay less attention to these aspects of design. As an industry matures there is a shift in emphasis from design associated with technological innovation, to designs supporting technical improvements, and then to supporting user needs, fashion and product variants. These issues are illustrated through the history of the evolution of the bicycle.     

A multivariate mixed linear model for meta-analysis.

A multivariate mixed-effects approach for meta-analysis is presented. The approach (a) incorporates as outcomes multiple effect sizes per study; (b) allows different studies to have different subsets of effect sizes; and (c) treats each study's effect sizes as random realizations from a population of possible effect sizes. Application is illustrated via reanalysis of data from studies assessing the effects of coaching on verbal and mathematical subtests of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Covariance components are estimated via restricted maximum likelihood (REML); inferences about regression coefficients and specific study effect sizes are based on their joint conditional distribution given the REML covariance component estimates. The approach can be implemented via now-standard software for unbalanced hierarchical data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research.

Reviews the book, Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research by Kurt Danziger (1990). Kurt Danziger's Constructing the Subject: Historical Origins of Psychological Research is a book of singular importance because it provides such a penetrating analysis, and does so in a manner that is cause for considerable reflection. In brief, Danziger provides a history lesson that not only situates the names and the projects of experimental psychology in the first part of this century, but also aims to clarify the project of knowledge generation both past and present. Indeed, shades of Quine, Kuhn, and Hesse permeate this book in a way that demands psychologists examine their own investigative practices and logics of justification. Through Wundt, through Galton, through Ebbinghaus and others, Danziger illuminates the development of experimental psychology along with the historical and philosophical vicissitudes that have given rise to numerous psychological knowledge claims. If it is true that we must understand our history in order to understand our present, then Danziger's book should be required reading in all research laboratories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence for two types of spatial representations: Hemispheric specialization for categorical and coordinate relations.

Analyses of human object recognition abilities led to the hypothesis that 2 kinds of spatial relation representations are used in human vision. Evidence for the distinction between abstract categorical spatial relation representations and specific coordinate spatial relation representations was provided in 4 experiments. These results indicate that Ss make categorical judgments—on/off, left/right, and above/below—faster when stimuli are initially presented to the left cerebral hemisphere, whereas they make evaluations of distance—in relation to 2 mm, 3 mm, or 1 in. (2.54 cm)—faster when stimuli are initially presented to the right cerebral hemisphere. In addition, there was evidence that categorical representations developed with practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

RF Susceptibility of an EEG and Considerations for Attenuating RFI in Hospitals

This paper discusses the testing accomplished to determine the radio frequency (RF) susceptibility of a typical electroencephalograph (EEG) and to determine the effectiveness of lead X-ray shielding as an RF shield. New data are presented on threshold field strengths and frequencies which just begin to cause interference on a typical EEG brain scan. Results are combined with data from other studies to show that a typical EEG machine would be immune to the RF environment expected in the vicinity of most hospitals. Therefore, expensive RF shielding in a hospital EEG suite is usually not required. Finally, an inexpensive shielding system utilizing X-ray shielding which was developed by the U.S. Veterans Administration is presented.     

Fast Full-Band Device Simulator for Wurtzite and Zincblende GaN MESFET Using a Cellular Monte Carlo Method

A fast full-band device simulator for wurtzite and zincblende GaN using a Cellular Monte Carlo (CMC) approach is reported for wurtzite and zincblende GaN. The full-phonon dispersion relationship including anisotropic polar-optical phonon scattering is taken into account for the wurtzite GaN calculation. In the bulk simulation, the CMC model is about 30–100 times faster than the conventional Ensemble Monte Carlo model at high electric field region. This CMC model is applied to the simulator of MESFET devices, and the calculation speed is significantly improved.     

Neuropsychological functioning of girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder followed prospectively into adolescence: Evidence for continuing deficits?

The current study prospectively followed girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), along with a matched comparison sample, 5 years after childhood neuropsychological assessments. Follow-up neuropsychological measures emphasized attentional skills, executive functions, and language abilities. Paralleling childhood findings, the childhood-diagnosed ADHD group displayed moderate to large deficits in executive/attentional performance as well as in rapid naming relative to the comparison group at follow up (Mage 14.2 years). ADHD-inattentive versus ADHD-combined contrasts were nonsignificant and of negligible effect size, even when a refined, sluggish cognitive tempo subgroup of the inattentive type was examined. Although ADHD versus comparison group differences largely withstood statistical control of baseline demographics and comorbidities, control of childhood IQ reduced executive function differences to nonsignificance. Yet when the subset of girls meeting diagnostic criteria for ADHD in adolescence was compared with the remainder of the participants, neuropsychological deficits emerged even with full statistical control. Overall, childhood ADHD in girls portends neuropsychological and executive deficits that persist for at least 5 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of recent practice on task switching.

Four experiments investigated the effect of recent selective practice on the cost of switching between 2 tasks afforded by letter-digit pairs: alphabet arithmetic and shape comparison. Experiments 1 and 2 found a greater cost associated with switching to the more recently practiced task: evidence that task-set inertia contributes to switching costs. Experiment 3 found this effect to be limited to trials on which a recently trained stimulus followed another such stimulus: a result problematic for all current theories of task-set priming. Experiment 4 showed that the effect of recent practice was eliminated by active preparation for a task switch: It appears that endogenous task-set preparation reduces the effects of task-set inertia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding the role of impulsivity and externalizing psychopathology in alcohol abuse: Application of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale.

The present study explores the relation among 4 personality traits associated with impulsive behavior and alcohol abuse. Personality traits were measured using the 4 subscales of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS: S. P. Whiteside & D. R. Lynam. 2001). The UPPS and measures of psychopathology were administered to clinical samples of alcohol abusers high in antisocial personality traits (AAPD), alcohol abusers low in antisocial personality traits (AA), and a control group (total N = 60). Separate analyses of variance indicated that AAPDs had significant elevations on all 4 UPPS scales, whereas the AAs and controls differed only on the Urgency subscale. However, when controlling for psychopathology, group differences on the UPPS scales disappeared. The results suggest that personality traits related to impulsive behavior are not directly related to alcohol abuse but rather are associated with the elevated levels of psychopathology found in a subtype of alcohol abusers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)