bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Factors favoring knowledge management in work teams
Authors: Zárraga Celia , Manuel García‐Falcón Juan
Published: June 2003

Knowledge management is an activity that has generated great interest in the business world recently. We conceive this activity as the process through which organizational knowledge is created from the individual knowledge of the members of the firm. A variety of contributions on the topic have indicated that organization in work teams is a suitable structure for putting that process into practice. However, we know that this alone is not sufficient. Therefore, in this study, we deal with the analysis of the conditions or characteristics that the work teams should have in order to be true centers of knowledge management. Based on a review of the literature and on the evidence provided by a quantitative empirical study, we obtain a list of factors favoring the process, in order of relative importance. Moreover, we distinguish between those that more deeply favor the creation of individual knowledge and those most suitable for inducing the transfer and integration of that knowledge.
Learning and knowledge transfer in partnering: an empirical case study
Authors: Wagner Beverly A
Published: June 2003

This study is based upon a longitudinal research project undertaken between 1994 and 1999 from one partnering case study. At the outset both parties did not anticipate the significance of the learning which would take place within and between the companies. The structure of the paper is as follows; first an overview of the companies involved provides the context of the study. A review of literature considers the resource‐based theory of strategy development, organizational learning and teamwork in the partnering context. Description of the methodology applied leads to discussion of the results in the light of the literature. Findings suggest that the inter‐organization project teams are the mechanisms by which knowledge is converted into new joint capabilities. Finally implications for theory and practitioners are considered as well as avenues for future research.
Technological issues towards knowledge‐powered organizations
Authors: Vouros George A.
Published: June 2003

Organizations have already realized the significance of capturing, sharing and applying the collective experience and know‐how of their members. The aim is to increase operational efficiency, productivity, quality of services and get innovative products and solutions to their customers. However, it is well known that technological approaches for managing organizational knowledge need further development for their effective deployment in real settings. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of previous work done in information technology solutions to support knowledge management, to specify important features that an advanced knowledge management system must have in order to be successfully deployed in an organization, and identify emerging technological issues that must be researched and be developed in order the technological expectations of the knowledge management community to be fulfilled.
Putting theory into practice to build knowledge management systems
Authors: Salisbury Mark W.
Published: June 2003

This article describes our process for putting theory into practice to build knowledge management systems. We begin by discussing our definition of knowledge management and describe our theoretical foundation for developing systemic solutions for organizations to manage their knowledge. Next, we describe our process for creating a knowledge management strategy and how we design the technological aspects of a knowledge management system that will enable organizations to achieve their knowledge management strategy. We also describe how we provide training on the completed system and the organizational development interventions necessary to ensure that management and the members of the organization support the strategy. We conclude by providing an example scenario to illustrate how the resulting knowledge management system would operate in an organization’s work environment.
Knowledge management systems and developing sustainable competitive advantage
Authors: Adams Garry L. , Lamont Bruce T.
Published: June 2003

Recent literature in the strategic management field suggests that firms must learn to re‐bundle internal competencies and resources in order to maintain competitive advantages over time. Utilizing the resource‐based view of the firm and dynamic capabilities perspectives, this paper examines the roles that absorptive and transformative capacity play in organizational innovation, with specific emphasis placed on the role and effectiveness of knowledge management systems as a determinant of innovation practices.
Which advisers do micro‐firms use? Some Australian evidence
Authors: Jay Leighton , Schaper Michael
Published: June 2003

Despite the growth of many new business advice and support services over the last 15 years, the extent to which such facilities are used by the Australian small business sector has not been extensively examined, especially amongst the micro‐enterprises that comprise the majority of all small firms. Home based businesses (HBBs) constitute the largest group of micro‐businesses in Australia, as well as comprising the biggest single SME sector in the nation. An investigation into the usage of advisory services by HBBs in Perth, Western Australia revealed substantial differences in the types and frequency of advisers used. It was found that accountants, banks, other business operators and family/friends were the most commonly consulted services. In contrast, lawyers, government agencies, industry associations, and management consultants were only infrequently used. The research project also attempted to determine if the frequency of adviser usage could be predicted on the basis of a range of individual and firm characteristics (namely, the age of the business, the size of the enterprise, and the age and gender of the owner/operator). A positive correlation was found to exist with all four factors, with micro‐firms managed by men tending to use advisory services more frequently.
Managing for growth: decision making, planning, and making changes
Authors: Joyce Paul , Woods Adrian
Published: June 2003

The competencies that need to be developed and deployed in coping with accelerating changes in the business environment have been the subject of much work dating back at least to the 1960s. Two broad themes are discernible in this work. On the one hand there are those who argue that the speed of change is so fast that organisations and managers who can respond almost instinctively and improvise responses quickly will do well. On the other, there are those who argue that more formalised systems of strategic development and control are needed to give organisations a competitive advantage. The results from an empirical study of some 267 organisations are used to shed some light on this debate. The evidence supports the idea that a growing organisation is associated with the existence of internal strategic systems that support the firm’s growth ambitions, allowing it to make not only “good” business decisions and to monitor how well the organisations is doing against its strategy, but to do so speedily.
Enhancing SMEs’ capability: opportunities in supply chain relationships?
Authors: Macpherson Allan , Wilson Alison
Published: June 2003

Studies of entrepreneurial learning have shown a preference for learning from the business context and business relationships. Within this business context, larger organisations are focusing on their supply chains as a significant source of strategic advantage, impacting on the competences required by SMEs to meet expectations. Uses a supply chain competence map to investigate the level to which 39 manufacturing SMEs demonstrate the competences expected by suppliers. The research sample showed a high degree of external and supply chain orientation. Highlight the fact that, given the right support and a willingness to engage with the external business environment, supply chains offer an alternative development opportunity for SMEs. Moreover, it is a learning model that suits their preferred learning style. What is not clear is whether the customer organisations are willing, or able, to support that learning.
High‐growth firms in the Swedish ERP industry
Authors: Andersson Svante
Published: June 2003

This paper analyses growth patterns in three high‐growth Swedish firms (Intentia, IBS, and in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) industry. A multi‐theoretical framework is developed and used to analyse the firms’ growth. It is concluded that growth is a complex phenomenon that has to be viewed from different theoretical angles to be understood. It is shown that entrepreneurs’ intentions, international growth strategies, organic organisations, industry structure and networks, and national cultures are all factors that influence firms’ growth.
The role of management accounting in a company in transition from command to market economy
Authors: Vamosi Tamas
Published: June 2003

This article will examine the role of selected aspects of management accounting in a company that is changing from command to market economy. By applying the institutional theory to a Hungarian, previously government‐owned and production‐oriented transition company, calculation practice and cash flow management are analysed as technologies that represent recognisable and non‐recognisable rationales and logics in the transition process. It is concluded that calculation practice is not new in terms of technology, it is the application of the practice that is new. However, cash flow management is a completely new discipline that is not so easy to handle. Indeed, the new “everyday reality” has fundamentally changed the purpose of management accounting and related expectations about (re‐) constitution of rationales and practices. But the changes in management accounting are based on a historical cargo of experiences and rationality that cannot be dismissed just like that.
Comparing the performance of male‐ and female‐controlled businesses
Authors: Westhead Paul
Published: June 2003

Many policy makers and practitioners view female entrepreneurs as a “special group” worthy of research and policy attention. Concern has, however, been raised surrounding the quality of the studies focusing on female entrepreneurs. The six specification decisions (i.e. purpose, theoretical perspective, focus, level of analysis, methodology, and time frame) highlighted by Low and MacMillan’s 1998 article, “Entrepreneurship: past research and future challenges”, to review the entrepreneurship field were utilized to guide a critical review of Watson’s 2002 study, “Comparing the performance of male – and female – controlled businesses: relating outputs to inputs”, relating to the performance of male and female‐controlled businesses. Watson’s insightful study makes several contributions to knowledge and highlights issues that need to be more rigorously considered by scholars focusing on the female entrepreneurship phenomenon. Scholars who consider and report the six specification decisions will provide richer evidence and they will enable studies to be more easily compared with one another. Further, more rigorously collected evidence will enable policy makers and practitioners to make more informed resource allocation decisions.
Should broadband be part of universal service obligations?
Authors: Xavier Patrick
Published: June 2003

There is growing concern that some groups without access to high‐speed broadband networks, e.g. those residing in rural and remote areas, will be unable to benefit from online education, health and government services, etc. Such concerns have led to arguments that universal service obligations (USOs) should be upgraded to include access to broadband. This paper reviews the arguments and concludes that, at this stage of broadband development and diffusion, there is no convincing case for USO‐type mandates. Since the case for broadband USOs should be intermittently revisited, the paper proceeds, nevertheless, to explore what would be involved in a systematic review of this issue.
Accommodative competitive entry policies and telecommunications regulation
Authors: Kolesar Mark , Weisman Dennis L.
Published: June 2003

Accommodative competitive entry policies (unbundling, resale and interconnection) yield contestable retail telecommunications markets. The combination of setting efficient prices for network elements and allowing competitors to choose their preferred level of wholesale quality renders the retail market self‐regulating with respect to both price and quality. Any overhang of regulation at the retail level under these conditions is potentially harmful to fostering a competitive market outcome.
Development of the telecommunications market in Germany since liberalisation
Authors: Elixmann Dieter , Schwab Rolf , Stappen Cornelia
Published: June 2003

When the German telecommunications market was opened up entirely to competition it was mainly characterized by a monopoly in the fixed‐link segment and a duopoly in the cellular segment. The article aims at highlighting how the German market has evolved since liberalisation and which developments have been brought about by competitive forces. The argument in this article is highly based on available empirical information. On the one hand, the analysis goes deep into sub‐segments of the telecommunications market. On the other hand, developments within and across these sub‐segments are analysed from different perspectives, encompassing in particular market volumes, traffic volumes, the positioning of players in the market, market share, and the role of prices.
Transparency on the Net: functions and deficiencies of Internet search engines
Authors: Machill Marcel , Neuberger Christoph , Schindler Friedemann
Published: June 2003

Search engines exist to help sort through all the information available on the Internet, but have thus fair failed to shoulder any responsibility for the content which appears on the pages they present in their indexes. Search engines lack any transparency to clarify how results were found, and how they are connected to the search terms. Thus, problems arise in connection with the protection of minors – namely, that minors have access, intentional or unwitting, to content which may be harmful to them. The findings of this study point to the need for a better framework for the protection of children. This framework should include codes of conduct for search engines, more accurate labeling of Web site data, and the outlawing of search engine manipulation. This study is intended as a first step in making the public aware of the problem of protecting children on the Internet.
A business process approach to human resource management
Authors: Cakar Figen , Bititci Umit S. , MacBryde Jillian
Published: June 2003

The initial objective of the research presented in this paper was to investigate human resource management (HRM) practices from a business process perspective. The paper first demonstrates the level of inconsistency in the field with respect to HRM models. The paper then develops the need for a more formal systems engineering‐based approach for modelling HRM practices from a business process viewpoint. The paper then goes on to describe the model developed for the HRM business process together with the methodology used to validate the model. The paper concludes with a discussion on the validity of the model, which further demonstrates the differing points of view in this complex and multidisciplinary field.
Stakeholder involvement in the EMS adoption process
Authors: Zutshi Ambika , Sohal Amrik S.
Published: June 2003

This paper summarises the findings of the qualitative part of a large study aimed at exploring the extent of involvement of organisational stakeholders (employees and suppliers) during the environmental management system (EMS) adoption process. Interviews with nine senior/middle managers from Australian manufacturing and service organisations revealed the growing awareness of the impact of their products and processes on the ecological and social environments. Moreover, implementation of an EMS or waste management system (WMS) is accepted as a learning curve by both the organisation and its stakeholders, including its employees. Organisations at the same time are also contemplating the need for certifying their existing EMS against international standards such as ISO 14001 based on the cost‐benefits resulting from the certification.
Process management practices and quality systems standards
Authors: Biazzo Stefano , Bernardi Giovanni
Published: June 2003

The attention focused on the complex set of human activities through which a company attempts to create value for its stakeholders is one of the most characteristic features of the total quality management (TQM) concept. This focalisation on the concept of process in the field of competitive quality is today mirrored in the prerequisites of normative quality, as the new ISO 9001: 2000 standard encourages a process approach to quality management. This article aims to investigate the relationship between the crucial aspects of process management and the normative indications of ISO 9001: 2000. To this aim, a conceptual framework is proposed which integrates the core components of process management methodologies described in the literature. The framework is used to analyse the requirements of the new quality system standard and to evaluate the conceptual advancement of ISO 9001: 2000 toward TQM principles and practices. The paper discusses how the harmonisation of normative requirements with TQM could entail several important risks as it increases the problem of ritualistic implementation – i.e. the adoption of external norms exclusively targeted at social legitimation – and concludes with a reflection on the “implementation challenge” that both companies and consultants have to face in order to seek ISO 9001 registration and develop an effective process management system.
The evolution of agile manufacturing
Authors: Jin‐Hai Li , Anderson Alistair R. , Harrison Richard T.
Published: June 2003

This paper provides an exploration of the concept and content of agile manufacturing (AM). It describes the nature of the content of AM and synthesises the literature to propose a comprehensive definition of purpose and process. Real agile manufacturing (RAM) is viewed as a strategic process; it is about surviving and prospering in the competitive environment of continuous and unpredictable change by reacting quickly and effectively to changing markets. The paper argues that RAM is evolutionary, in that it is developed from existing systems of management and technologies. However, it is also revolutionary because the full application of RAM involves a departure from existing systems. RAM is shown to be based upon four fundamentals. First, each partner must benefit; thus multiple winners (manufacturers, suppliers, customers) is the objective. Second, integration (recourses, methods, technologies, departments or organisations) is the means of achieving RAM. Third, IT is demonstrated to be an essential condition. Finally, core competence is seen to be the key.
Workflow: a solution for cooperative information system development
Authors: Caro J.L. , Guevara A. , Aguayo A.
Published: June 2003

Workflow management includes concepts of special interest to the business organization field and for the automation of processes within a company. However, process modeling via workflow specifications and workflow management systems can be applied in any field where a workflow exists. The use of CASE tools provides a great increase in performance in information system development but, on the other hand, these tools do not support group work and make skipped steps possible in a methodology. Applying workflow management systems as a meta‐CASE tool together with the use of cooperative methodologies – that aim to capture user requirements – can help us to solve problems related to shortcomings in monitoring, controls, and audit information system development.
Production scheduling in ERP systems
Authors: Metaxiotis Kostas S. , Psarras John E. , Ergazakis Kostas A.
Published: June 2003

In the current competitive environment, each company faces a number of challenges: quick response to customers’ demands, high quality of products or services, customers’ satisfaction, reliable delivery dates, high efficiency, and others. As a result, during the last five years many firms have proceeded to the adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions. ERP is a packaged software system, which enables the integration of operations, business processes and functions, through common data‐processing and communications protocols. However, the majority, if not all, of these systems do not support the production scheduling process that is of crucial importance in today’s manufacturing and service industries. In this paper, the authors propose a knowledge‐based system for production‐scheduling that could be incorporated as a custom module in an ERP system. This system uses the prevailing conditions in the industrial environment in order to select dynamically and propose the most appropriate scheduling algorithm from a library of many candidate algorithms.
Silicon Valley versus Silicon Glen: the impact of computers upon teaching and learning: a comparative study
Authors: Conlon Tom , Simpson Mary
Published: June 2003

Drawing on data from a major survey on the impact of information technology initiatives on Scottish schools, we assess the extent to which the outcomes resemble those that have already been reported by Larry Cuban in his study of schools in Silicon Valley. We find a large measure of agreement. Scottish teachers and school students mostly have access to computers in their homes and classrooms. The home computers appear to be frequently used. The classroom computers, however, are encountered by students only seldom and when students do use computers in the classroom the activity is often peripheral to the learning process, such as word processing of essays. We discuss some possible explanations for this state of affairs and suggest some implications for policy‐making.
ICT—the hopes and the reality
Authors: Reynolds David , Treharne Dave , Tripp Helen
Published: June 2003

An analysis is made of the reasons for excessive optimism concerning the potential of ICT to enhance levels of pupil achievement. After a review of evidence concerning the potential of ICT, a small‐scale survey is reported that shows continuing problems in the adoption of ICT by teachers. It is concluded that more research is needed to improve the expectations and effectiveness of ICT provision and utilisation.
Reality bytes: examining the rhetoric of widening educational participation via ICT
Authors: Selwyn Neil , Gorard Stephen
Published: June 2003

Information and communications technology (ICT) has fast become the rhetorical foundation of the UK government's attempts to transform adult education radically and to establish a ‘learning society’. Central to this rhetoric are a series of largely untested assumptions about the potential of ICT to increase and widen levels of educational participation to include those groups of learners who have previously been excluded. With this in mind, the present paper contrasts recent government rhetoric concerning post‐compulsory ‘e‐learning’ with an analysis of data from the 2002 National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) survey of 5,885 households. With these data suggesting that access to ICT does not, in itself, make people any more likely to participate in education and (re)engage with learning, the paper concludes by considering how ICT might be more realistically re‐approached by the educational and political communities.
Knowledge transformation through ICT in science education: a case study in teacher‐driven curriculum development—Case‐Study 1
Authors: Baggott La Velle Linda , McFarlane Angela , Brawn Richard
Published: June 2003

The papers in this volume of BJET relate to the over‐riding concern about the role of information and communications technologies (ICT) in education: the extent to which the claims of policy makers, administrators, publicists, politicians and bureaucrats are borne out in the reality of teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom. One approach to providing the evidential base for judging the extent of and nature of the gap between rhetoric and reality and closing it are major research studies based upon statistically significant sampling like IMPACT2, another is to build up a body of in‐depth case‐study evidence that can be used as the basis for generalisation. This paper falls into the latter category, looking at a case study of the initial stages of the development of effective ICT in Science Education. The research and development work involved is an element in the ICT strand of the Teaching and Learning in the Information Age Project. The paper first reviews the issues in the development of a design initiative for furthering our understanding of the problem of knowledge transformation in science education through ICT. A discussion of the development of ICT use in science education then leads to an illustration of current use in UK school science classrooms and laboratories. A theoretical framework of teacher's knowledge and pedagogical reasoning in science through ICT is presented as the basis for the curriculum research and redevelopment that the case study involves. The case study, findings and discussion then follow.
Rhetoric and reality: using ICT to enhance pupil learning—Harry Potter and the Warley Woods Mystery—Case study 2
Authors: Nichol Jon , Watson Kate , Waites Graham
Published: June 2003

How can we use ICT to enhance the quality of pupil learning? The case study below deliberately embedded ICT within the context of an existing scheme of work to develop 11–12 year olds’ understanding of the skills and processes of historical investigation. It also mapped onto the existing teaching styles of the teachers involved, and reflected their orientation—beliefs and values. The role for the ICT was to present the pupils with a problem that would intrigue, excite and motivate them. Accordingly, we asked them to act in role as assistants to Harry and Hermione in investigating the strange death of Sam Woodhouse in 1822. The pupils carried out the investigation using a hyperlinked set of clues. They had undertaken two identical kinds of investigation earlier in the year. One was a murder mystery, the other the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower in 1483. For both these mysteries the clues were on cards. Comparisons of the results of the ICT mystery with those of the earlier two investigations suggest that the hyperlink version was equally effective in terms of developing understanding, with some clear advantages in developing pupils’ overall understanding of the problem and ability to make links between disparate clues and pieces of information.
The Virtual Field Station (VFS): using a virtual reality environment for ecological fieldwork in A‐Level biological studies—Case Study 3
Authors: Poland Roger , Baggott la Velle Linda , Nichol Jon
Published: June 2003

Case studies are one way of producing the evidential base necessary for ICT to become embedded in everyday teaching and learning. Such case studies are vital for the purposes of generalisation. Also, teacher generated case‐studies have the benefit of being research that is done by teachers in conjunction with Higher Education support and mediation, as opposed to research being done to teachers by Higher Education. One such teacher‐generated case study at the cutting edge of ICT researches the effectiveness of a Virtual Field Station for the teaching of an A Level biology topic. The subject was the exotic one of the Mediterranean sea turtle. Student fieldwork involving these fascinating creatures is desirable but difficult, as the sea turtle's habitat is the archipelago of the Aegean Sea. The paper argues that a Virtual Field Centre is an effective substitute for actuality in terms of the development of student knowledge and understanding for examination purposes. As such, it is an innovative development that sits at the forefront of an area of Science Education that is rapidly developing, ie ICT‐mediated teaching and learning.
‘High‐performance’ Management Practices, Working Hours and Work–Life Balance
Authors: White Michael , Hill Stephen , McGovern Patrick , Mills Colin , Smeaton Deborah
Published: June 2003

The effects of selected high‐performance practices and working hours on work–life balance are analysed with data from national surveys of British employees in 1992 and 2000. Alongside long hours, which are a constant source of negative job‐to‐home spillover, certain ‘high‐performance’ practices have become more strongly related to negative spillover during this period. Surprisingly, dual‐earner couples are not especially liable to spillover — if anything, less so than single‐earner couples. Additionally, the presence of young children has become less important over time. Overall, the results suggest a conflict between high‐performance practices and work‐life balance policies.
Work–Life Imbalance in Call Centres and Software Development
Authors: Hyman Jeff , Baldry Chris , Scholarios Dora , Bunzel Dirk
Published: June 2003

The paper evaluates the centrality of work to employees in two growing employment sectors, call‐centres and software development. It then examines evidence for extensions of work into household and family life in these two sectors. Extensions are identified as tangible, such as unpaid overtime, or intangible, represented by incursions imported from work, such as exhaustion and stress. The study finds that organizational pressures, combined with lack of work centrality, result in work intruding into non‐work areas of employee lives, though intrusions manifest themselves in different ways according to type of work, levels of worker autonomy and organizational support.
Inter‐organizational Relations and Employment in a Multi‐employer Environment
Authors: Rubery Jill , Cooke Fang Lee , Earnshaw Jill , Marchington Mick
Published: June 2003

This study focuses on the employment dimensions of inter‐organizational relations, taking as an example a large regional airport. The dense and complex relationships that emerge in a multi‐agency setting are highlighted to illustrate the tensions and contradictions that characterize the management of workers in an environment where contracting and recontracting predominate. These findings suggest that there is a need, on the one hand, to include inter‐organizational relations in the study of the employment relationship and, on the other hand, to reinsert employment issues into the analysis of inter‐organizational contracting and partnerships.
Heightening Tension in Relations between Trade Unions and the Labour Government in 2002
Authors: Waddington Jeremy
Published: June 2003

During 2002 tension between trade unions and the Labour government reached a level not seen before in their relationship. This review examines the source of the tension and its manifestations. It shows that during the year a range of issues emerged that divided the government and unions. New Labour ‘modernizers’ cited these differences as reasons to further distance the Party from trade unions. The article argues that relations between trade unionism and the government are at low ebb, and that the extent of disagreement between the two is now more pronounced than at any other time since 1997.
Infant Lightness Perception
Authors: Chien Sarina Hui-Lin , Palmer John , Teller Davida Y.
Published: June 2003

When adults view a test disk embedded in a higher-luminance surround, the perceived lightness of the disk is largely determined by the surround-to-disk (S/D) luminance ratio (Wallach's ratio rule). Performance of 4-month-old infants tested with a forced-choice novelty-preference technique was consistent with predictions based on Wallach's ratio rule. This result suggests that the ability to extract and maintain information about local luminance ratios is present early in infancy. This ability is likely to contribute to the development of lightness constancy.
Directional Bias in the Mental Representation of Spatial Events
Authors: Maass Anne , Russo Aurore
Published: June 2003

Previous research has shown a tendency for people to imagine simple sentences as evolving from left to right, with the sentence subject being located to the left of the object. In two cross-cultural studies comparing Italian and Arab participants, we investigated whether this bias is a function of hemispheric specialization or of directionality of written language (left to right in Italian, right to left in Arabic). Both studies found a reversal of directional bias in Arabs. Italians tended to position the subject to the left of the object, and Arabs tended to position the subject to the right of the object (Experiment 1); both groups were facilitated in a sentence-picture matching task when the subject was drawn in the position that it would usually occupy in the written language (left for Italians, right for Arabs; Experiment 2). In Experiment 2, an additional, language-independent facilitation was observed when action evolved from left to right, suggesting that both hemispheric specialization and scanning habit affect visual imaging.
Sit-and-Wait Strategies in Dynamic Visual Search
Authors: von Mühlenen Adrian , Müller Hermann J. , Müller Dagmar
Published: June 2003

The role of memory in visual search has lately become a controversial issue. Horowitz and Wolfe (1998) observed that performance in a visual search task was little affected by whether the stimuli were static or randomly relocated every 111 ms. Because a memory-based mechanism, such as inhibition of return, would be of no use in the dynamic condition, Horowitz and Wolfe concluded that memory is likewise not involved in the static condition. However, Horowitz and Wolfe could not effectively rule out the possibility that observers adopted a different strategy in the dynamic condition than in the static condition. That is, in the dynamic condition observers may have attended to a subregion of the display and waited for the target to appear there (sit-and-wait strategy). This hypothesis is supported by experimental data showing that performance in their dynamic condition does not differ from performance in another dynamic condition in which observers are forced to adopt a sit-and-wait strategy by being presented with a limited region of the display only.
Effect of Social Category Priming on Personal Attitudes
Authors: Kawakami Kerry , Dovidio John F. , Dijksterhuis Ap
Published: June 2003

In four studies, we examined the spontaneous activation of specific attitudes related to social categories. These studies investigated whether priming participants with concepts associated with the elderly and skinheads influenced participants' attitudes. The results consistently demonstrated that priming a social category can influence people's attitudes such that they become more similar to those of people in the primed category. After participants were primed with the elderly category, their attitudes became more conservative; after participants were primed with the skinhead category, their attitudes became more prejudiced. We also found that these effects can occur without awareness and intention and are specific to the participants' own attitudes. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered.
Providing Social Support May Be More Beneficial Than Receiving It
Authors: Brown Stephanie L. , Nesse Randolph M. , Vinokur Amiram D. , Smith Dylan M.
Published: June 2003

This study examines the relative contributions of giving versus receiving support to longevity in a sample of older married adults. Baseline indicators of giving and receiving support were used to predict mortality status over a 5-year period in the Changing Lives of Older Couples sample. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that mortality was significantly reduced for individuals who reported providing instrumental support to friends, relatives, and neighbors, and individuals who reported providing emotional support to their spouse. Receiving support had no effect on mortality once giving support was taken into consideration. This pattern of findings was obtained after controlling for demographic, personality, health, mental health, and marital-relationship variables. These results have implications for understanding how social contact influences health and longevity.
Context Effects in Word Recognition
Authors: Sereno Sara C. , Brewer Cameron C. , O'Donnell Patrick J.
Published: June 2003

This study investigated whether a prior context influenced lexical access as indexed by participants' electrophysiological response in the N1 from 132 to 192 ms poststimulus. Ambiguous, high-frequency (HF), and low-frequency (LF) words were presented in neutral and biasing contexts. Event-related potentials (ERPs) for ambiguous words were compared with those for unambiguous HF (word form) and LF (word meaning) control words. Word frequency effects in the N1 extended previous ERP findings. A marginal effect of context for LF words provided electrophysiological support for the context-by-frequency interaction shown in reaction time paradigms. In neutral context, responses to ambiguous words were comparable to responses to HF words, and in biasing context (where context instantiated the subordinate sense), responses to ambiguous words were comparable to responses to LF words. The results establish temporal parameters for the early operation of context in lexical access. These constraints are more consistent with an interactive than a modular account.
Using Nonconscious Behavioral Mimicry to Create Affiliation and Rapport
Authors: Lakin Jessica L. , Chartrand Tanya L.
Published: June 2003

Nonconscious behavioral mimicry occurs when a person unwittingly imitates the behaviors of another person. This mimicry has been attributed to a direct link between perceiving a behavior and performing that same behavior. The current experiments explored whether having a goal to affiliate augments the tendency to mimic the behaviors of interaction partners. Experiment 1 demonstrated that having an affiliation goal increases nonconscious mimicry, and Experiment 2 further supported this proposition by demonstrating that people who have unsuccessfully attempted to affiliate in an interaction subsequently exhibit more mimicry than those who have not experienced such a failure. Results suggest that behavioral mimicry may be part of a person's repertoire of behaviors, used nonconsciously, when there is a desire to create rapport.
Voluntary Head Movement and Allocentric Perception of Space
Authors: Wexler Mark
Published: June 2003

Although visual input is egocentric, at least some visual perceptions and representations are allocentric, that is, independent of the observer's vantage point or motion. Three experiments investigated the visual perception of three-dimensional object motion during voluntary and involuntary motion in human subjects. The results show that the motor command contributes to the objective perception of space: Observers are more likely to apply, consciously and unconsciously, spatial criteria relative to an allocentric frame of reference when they are executing voluntary head movements than while they are undergoing similar involuntary displacements (which lead to a more egocentric bias). Furthermore, details of the motor command are crucial to spatial vision, as allocentric bias decreases or disappears when self-motion and motor command do not match.
Evidence of Motor Planning in Infant Reaching Behavior
Authors: Claxton Laura J. , Keen Rachel , McCarty Michael E.
Published: June 2003

When adults reach for an object, kinematic measures of their approach movement are affected by what they intend to do after grasping it. We examined whether such future intended actions would be reflected in the approach-to-grasp phase of infant reaching. Twenty-one 10-month-old infants were encouraged to either throw a ball into a tub or fit it down a tube. Kinematic measures of the approach phase of the reach toward the ball were obtained using a motion analysis system. Infants, like adults, reached for the ball faster if they were going to subsequently throw it as opposed to using it in the precision action. The perceptual aspects of the ball were the same and cannot account for these kinematic differences. Infants appear to be planning both segments of their actions in advance. Our findings provide evidence for a level of sophistication in infant motor planning not reported before.
Visual Motion Influences the Contingent Auditory Motion Aftereffect
Authors: Vroomen Jean , de Gelder Beatrice
Published: June 2003

In this study, we show that the contingent auditory motion aftereffect is strongly influenced by visual motion information. During an induction phase, participants listened to rightward-moving sounds with falling pitch alternated with leftward-moving sounds with rising pitch (or vice versa). Auditory aftereffects (i.e., a shift in the psychometric function for unimodal auditory motion perception) were bigger when a visual stimulus moved in the same direction as the sound than when no visual stimulus was presented. When the visual stimulus moved in the opposite direction, aftereffects were reversed and thus became contingent upon visual motion. When visual motion was combined with a stationary sound, no aftereffect was observed. These findings indicate that there are strong perceptual links between the visual and auditory motion-processing systems.
The “Ticktock” of Our Internal Clock
Authors: Brochard Renaud , Abecasis Donna , Potter Doug , Ragot Richard , Drake Carolyn
Published: June 2003

The phenomenon commonly known as subjective accenting refers to the fact that identical sound events within purely isochronous sequences are perceived as unequal. Although subjective accenting has been extensively explored using behavioral methods, no physiological evidence has ever been provided for it. In the present study, we tested the notion that these perceived irregularities are related to the dynamic deployment of attention. We disrupted listeners' expectancies in different positions of auditory equitone sequences and measured their responses through brain event-related potentials (ERPs). Significant differences in a late parietal (P3-like) ERP component were found between the responses elicited on odd-numbered versus even-numbered positions, suggesting that a default binary metric structure was perceived. Our findings indicate that this phenomenon has a rather cognitive, attention-dependent origin, partly affected by musical expertise.
Semantic Categorization in the Human Brain
Authors: Löw Andreas , Bentin Shlomo , Rockstroh Brigitte , Silberman Yaron , Gomolla Annette , Cohen Rudolf , Elbert Thomas
Published: June 2003

We examined the cortical representation of semantic categorization using magnetic source imaging in a task that revealed both dissociations among superordinate categories and associations among different base-level concepts within these categories. Around 200 ms after stimulus onset, the spatiotemporal correlation of brain activity elicited by base-level concepts was greater within than across superordinate categories in the right temporal lobe. Unsupervised clustering of data showed similar categorization between 210 and 450 ms mainly in the left hemisphere. This pattern suggests that well-defined semantic categories are represented in spatially distinct, macroscopically separable neural networks, independent of physical stimulus properties. In contrast, a broader, task-required categorization (natural/man-made) was not evident in our data. The perceptual dynamics of the categorization process is initially evident in the extrastriate areas of the right hemisphere; this activation is followed by higher-level activity along the ventral processing stream, implicating primarily the left temporal lobe.
Nonverbal “Accents”
Authors: Marsh Abigail A. , Elfenbein Hillary Anger , Ambady Nalini
Published: June 2003

We report evidence for nonverbal “accents,” subtle differences in the appearance of facial expressions of emotion across cultures. Participants viewed photographs of Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans in which posers' muscle movements were standardized to eliminate differences in expressions, cultural or otherwise. Participants guessed the nationality of posers displaying emotional expressions at above-chance levels, and with greater accuracy than they judged the nationality of the same posers displaying neutral expressions. These findings indicate that facial expressions of emotion can contain nonverbal accents that identify the expresser's nationality or culture. Cultural differences are intensified during the act of expressing emotion, rather than residing only in facial features or other static elements of appearance. This evidence suggests that extreme positions regarding the universality of emotional expressions are incomplete.
The Effect of Object and Event Orientation on Perception of Biological Motion
Authors: Shipley Thomas F.
Published: June 2003

Detection and recognition of point-light walking is reduced when the display is inverted, or turned upside down. This indicates that past experience influences biological motion perception. The effect could be the result of either presenting the human form in a novel orientation or presenting the event of walking in a novel orientation, as the two are confounded in the case of walking on feet. This study teased apart the effects of object and event orientation by examining detection accuracy for upright and inverted displays of a point-light figure walking on his hands. Detection of this walker was greater in the upright display, which had a familiar event orientation and an unfamiliar object orientation, than in the inverted display, which had a familiar object orientation and an unfamiliar event orientation. This finding supports accounts of event perception and recognition that are based on spatiotemporal patterns of motion associated with the dynamics of an event.
Character Strengths Before and After September 11
Authors: Peterson Christopher , Seligman Martin E.P.
Published: June 2003

Did Americans change following the September 11 terrorist attacks? We provide a tentative answer with respect to the positive traits included in the Values in Action Classification of Strengths and measured with a self-report questionnaire available on-line and completed by 4,817 respondents. When scores for individuals completing the survey in the 2 months immediately after September 11 were compared with scores for those individuals who completed the survey before September 11, seven character strengths showed increases: gratitude, hope, kindness, leadership, love, spirituality, and teamwork. Ten months after September 11, these character strengths were still elevated, although to a somewhat lesser degree than immediately following the attacks.
Reading Disappearing Text
Authors: Rayner Keith , Liversedge Simon P. , White Sarah J. , Vergilino-Perez Dorine
Published: June 2003

Participants read sentences containing high- or low-frequency target words under normal reading conditions or disappearing-text conditions (in which the word that was fixated disappeared after 60 ms). Even though the fixated word had disappeared after 60 ms, there was still a robust frequency effect wherein readers fixated longer on low-frequency words than on high-frequency words. Thus, the results are consistent with cognitive-control models of eye movement control and inconsistent with visual/oculomotor-control models. Although the uptake of visual information is clearly important for reading, it is the cognitive processes associated with understanding the fixated words that drive the eyes through the text.