bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Why do women travel solo for purposes of leisure?
Authors: Chiang Chu-Yin , Jogaratnam Giri
Published: December 2005

Increasingly women choose to travel alone instead of traveling with others or with groups. This study assessed why women travel alone for leisure purposes. An on-line questionnaire was developed to collect data for this study. Survey participants were 194 women who had solo travel experiences for pleasure. Using a factor analysis approach, five motivational dimensions for women who travel alone were derived, namely, experience, escape, relax, social, and self-esteem. The importance of the five motivational factors was significantly different based on the demographic and trip characteristics of the respondents.
Identifying annual variations in the spending behavior and economic impacts of day trippers to Sacramento, California, USA
Authors: Chhabra Deepak
Published: December 2005

‘Day tripper’ is an emerging distinct market segment in tourism that has received little attention in research literature. This study analyzes the spending behavior and economic impact of day trippers to Sacramento County, California, USA. An average day tripper is found to be between 39 and 45 years of age and is a self planner with vacation being the main purpose of visit. The results indicate that younger day trippers in the higher income bracket have a higher propensity to spend. Leisure is the main purpose of travel for the majority of the day trippers. Furthermore, day trippers generate significant economic impacts with a maximum contribution from the leisure day trippers. The study findings provide a better understanding of the day tripper market to tourism marketers.
Detachment: Gateway to the World of Spirituality
Authors: Bartocci Goffredo , Dein Simon
Published: December 2005

Mystical states are common cross-culturally. Here we examine the prevalence and general characteristics of these states. We then proceed to critically examine the theories purporting to explain these states: psychoanalytic, cognitive and neurobiological, all of which attempt to explain the breakdown of the boundaries between the self and external world. We conclude by exploring the implications of mystical states for cultural psychiatry.
Spiritist Views of Mental Disorders in Brazil
Authors: Moreira-Almeida Alexander , Neto Francisco Lotufo
Published: December 2005

The Spiritist perspective on mental disorders exerts a great influence in Brazil. Spiritist theory supports the survival of the spirit after death with an exchange of knowledge between the incarnated and disincarnated spirits. This article reviews the texts on mental disorders and Spiritism written by four leading Spiritist authors: Allan Kardec, Bezerra de Menezes, Inácio Ferreira and Joanna de ¬ngelis. These authors advocated a model of spiritual etiology without rejecting the biological, psychological, and social causes of mental disorders. The Spiritist etiologic model for mental disorders includes the negative influences of discarnated spirits (termed ‘obsession’) or trauma experienced in previous lives. In addition to conventional medical and psychological therapeutics, spiritist séances for disobsession are recommended, as well as ‘passes’, prayers and efforts to live according to ethical principles. The importance of Spiritist views in Brazil indicates the need for more academic research on this tradition.
The Idea of the National in Victorian Political Thought
Authors: Jones H. S.
Published: December 2005

This article contests the argument that British political thought in the 19th century was exceptional in European perspective in lacking a strong concept of nationhood and nationality. On the one hand it argues, with reference to Mazzini, Michelet and Renan, that continental European theories of nationality were by no means as dependent on a strong concept of race as a focus on Germany might imply. On the other hand, it identifies the Liberal Anglican tradition (Thomas and Matthew Arnold, F.D. Maurice, Arnold Toynbee) as a current of thought which generated an important but certainly non-racial concept of nationhood, as part of a general rehabilitation of community in the face of what these thinkers took to be utilitarian neglect.
The status of action research in the People’s Republic of China
Authors: Hughes Ian , Yuan Lin
Published: December 2005

Participative action research can appear both strange and familiar in the People’s Republic of China. China has a distinctive intellectual history, a specifically Chinese approach to citizen participation, and a growing interest in international forms of action research. For more than 30 years, participative approaches have been used in rural and community health in China, although these activities usually lack explicit reflective learning. Much of Chinese education follows authoritarian Confucian traditions. Transformation of Chinese education through action research is recently receiving official recognition as it is expected to develop creativity based on reflective thinking. There is also evidence that action research is bringing organizational and professional development to Chinese public administration, and enhancing rural health. While China has established a few centres of action research education cooperation from the West, it is inevitable that Chinese forms of action research will develop. The challenge for the international community of action researchers is to build open communication with Chinese action researchers to help the development of a Chinese way of conducting action research.
MMP-9, TIMP-1 and inflammatory cells in sputum from COPD patients during exacerbation
Authors: Mercer PF , Shute JK , Bhowmik A , Donaldson GC , Wedzicha JA , Warner JA
Published: December 2005

Background

Irreversible airflow obstruction in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is thought to result from airway remodelling associated with aberrant inflammation. Patients who experience frequent episodes of acute deterioration in symptoms and lung function, termed exacerbations, experience a faster decline in their lung function, and thus over time greater disease severity However the mechanisms by which these episodes may contribute to decreased lung function are poorly understood.

This study has prospectively examined changes in sputum levels of inflammatory cells, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 during exacerbations comparing with paired samples taken prior to exacerbation.

Methods

Nineteen COPD patients ((median, [IQR]) age 69 [63 to 74], forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 1.0 [0.9 to1.2], FEV1% predicted 37.6 [27.3 to 46.2]) provided sputa at exacerbation. Of these, 12 were paired with a samples collected when the patient was stable, a median 4 months [2 to 8 months] beforehand.

Results

MMP-9 levels increased from 10.5 μg/g [1.2 to 21.1] prior to exacerbation to 17.1 μg/g [9.3 to 48.7] during exacerbation (P < 0.01). TIMP-1 levels decreased from 3.5 μg/g [0.6 to 7.8] to 1.5 μg/g [0.3 to 4.9] (P = 0.16). MMP-9/TIMP-1 Molar ratio significantly increased from 0.6 [0.2 to 1.1] to 3.6 [2.0 to 25.3] (P < 0.05). Neutrophil, eosinophil and lymphocyte counts all showed significant increase during exacerbation compared to before (P < 0.05). Macrophage numbers remained level. MMP-9 levels during exacerbation showed highly significant correlation with both neutrophil and lymphocyte counts (Rho = 0.7, P < 0.01).

Conclusion

During exacerbation, increased inflammatory burden coincides with an imbalance of the proteinase MMP-9 and its cognate inhibitor TIMP-1. This may suggest a pathway connecting frequent exacerbations with lung function decline.
A decoy set for the thermostable subdomain from chicken villin headpiece, comparison of different free energy estimators
Authors: Fogolari Federico , Tosatto Silvio CE , Colombo Giorgio
Published: December 2005

Background

Estimators of free energies are routinely used to judge the quality of protein structural models. As these estimators still present inaccuracies, they are frequently evaluated by discriminating native or native-like conformations from large ensembles of so-called decoy structures.

Results

A decoy set is obtained from snapshots taken from 5 long (100 ns) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the thermostable subdomain from chicken villin headpiece.

An evaluation of the energy of the decoys is given using: i) a residue based contact potential supplemented by a term for the quality of dihedral angles; ii) a recently introduced combination of four statistical scoring functions for model quality estimation (FRST); iii) molecular mechanics with solvation energy estimated either according to the generalized Born surface area (GBSA) or iv) the Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (PBSA) method.

Conclusion

The decoy set presented here has the following features which make it attractive for testing energy scoring functions:

1) it covers a broad range of RMSD values (from less than 2.0 Å to more than 12 Å);

2) it has been obtained from molecular dynamics trajectories, starting from different non-native-like conformations which have diverse behaviour, with secondary structure elements correctly or incorrectly formed, and in one case folding to a native-like structure. This allows not only for scoring of static structures, but also for studying, using free energy estimators, the kinetics of folding;

3) all structures have been obtained from accurate MD simulations in explicit solvent and after molecular mechanics (MM) energy minimization using an implicit solvent method. The quality of the covalent structure therefore does not suffer from steric or covalent problems.

The statistical and physical effective energy functions tested on the set behave differently when native simulation snapshots are included or not in the set and when averaging over the trajectory is performed.
Probabilistic annotation of protein sequences based on functional classifications
Authors: Levy Emmanuel D , Ouzounis Christos A , Gilks Walter R , Audit Benjamin
Published: December 2005

Background

One of the most evident achievements of bioinformatics is the development of methods that transfer biological knowledge from characterised proteins to uncharacterised sequences. This mode of protein function assignment is mostly based on the detection of sequence similarity and the premise that functional properties are conserved during evolution. Most automatic approaches developed to date rely on the identification of clusters of homologous proteins and the mapping of new proteins onto these clusters, which are expected to share functional characteristics.

Results

Here, we inverse the logic of this process, by considering the mapping of sequences directly to a functional classification instead of mapping functions to a sequence clustering. In this mode, the starting point is a database of labelled proteins according to a functional classification scheme, and the subsequent use of sequence similarity allows defining the membership of new proteins to these functional classes. In this framework, we define the Correspondence Indicators as measures of relationship between sequence and function and further formulate two Bayesian approaches to estimate the probability for a sequence of unknown function to belong to a functional class. This approach allows the parametrisation of different sequence search strategies and provides a direct measure of annotation error rates. We validate this approach with a database of enzymes labelled by their corresponding four-digit EC numbers and analyse specific cases.

Conclusion

The performance of this method is significantly higher than the simple strategy consisting in transferring the annotation from the highest scoring BLAST match and is expected to find applications in automated functional annotation pipelines.
The feasibility of whole body vibration in institutionalised elderly persons and its influence on muscle performance, balance and mobility: a randomised controlled trial [ISRCTN62535013]
Authors: Bautmans Ivan , Van Hees Ellen , Lemper Jean-Claude , Mets Tony
Published: December 2005

Background

Fatigue or lack of interest can reduce the feasibility of intensive physical exercise in nursing home residents. Low-volume exercise interventions with similar training effects might be an alternative. The aim of this randomised controlled trial was to investigate the feasibility of Whole Body Vibration (WBV) in institutionalised elderly, and its impact on functional capacity and muscle performance.

Methods

Twenty-four nursing home residents (15 female, 9 male; mean age 77.5 ± 11.0 years) were randomised (stratification for age, gender and ADL-category) to 6 weeks static WBV exercise (WBV+, N = 13) or control (only static exercise; N = 11). Outcome measures were exercise compliance, timed up-and-go, Tinetti-test, back scratch, chair sit-and-reach, handgrip strength and linear isokinetic leg extension.

Results

At baseline, WBV+ and control groups were similar for all outcome variables. Twenty-one participants completed the program and attended respectively 96% and 86% of the exercise sessions for the WBV+ and control groups. Training-induced changes in timed up-and-go and Tinetti-test were better for WBV+ compared to control (p = 0.029 for timed up-and-go, p = 0.001 and p = 0.002 for Tinetti body balance and total score respectively). In an alternative analysis (Worst Rank Score & Last Observation Carried Forward) the differences in change remained significant on the Tinetti body balance and total score. No other significant differences in change between both groups were observed.

Conclusion

In nursing home residents with limited functional dependency, six weeks static WBV exercise is feasible, and is beneficial for balance and mobility. The supplementary benefit of WBV on muscle performance compared to classic exercise remains to be explored further.
Prevalence and distribution of high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV) types in invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and in normal women in Andhra Pradesh, India
Authors: Sowjanya A Pavani , Jain Meenkashi , Poli Usha Rani , Padma S , Das Manik , Shah Keerti V , Rao BN , Devi Radha Rama , Gravitt Patti E , Ramakrishna Gayatri
Published: December 2005

Background

Despite the high incidence of cervical cancer reported from India, large scale population based studies on the HPV prevalence and genotype distribution are very few from this region. In view of the clinical trials for HPV vaccine taking place in India, it is of utmost importance to understand the prevalence of HPV genotypes in various geographical regions of India. We investigated the genotype distribution of high-risk HPV types in squamous cell carcinomas and the prevalence of high-risk HPV in cervicovaginal samples in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh (AP), India.

Methods

HPV genotyping was done in cervical cancer specimens (n = 41) obtained from women attending a regional cancer hospital in Hyderabad. HPV-DNA testing was also done in cervicovaginal samples (n = 185) collected from women enrolled in the cervical cancer screening pilot study conducted in the rural community, of Medchal Mandal, twenty kilometers away from Hyderabad.

Results

High-risk HPV types were found in 87.8% (n = 36/41) of the squamous cell carcinomas using a PCR-based line blot assay. Among the HPV positive cancers, the overall type distribution of the major high-risk HPV types was as follows: HPV 16 (66.7%), HPV 18 (19.4%), HPV 33 (5.6%), HPV 35 (5.6%), HPV 45 (5.6%), HPV 52 (2.8%), HPV 58(2.8%), HPV 59(2.8%) and HPV 73 (2.8%). Women participating in the community screening programme provided both a self-collected vaginal swab and a clinician-collected cervical swab for HPV DNA testing. Primary screening for high risk HPV was performed using the Digene Hybrid Capture 2 (hc2) assay. All hc2 positive samples by any one method of collection were further analyzed using the Roche PCR-based line blot for genotype determination. The prevalence of high risk HPV infection in this community-based screening population was 10.3% (19/185) using the clinician-collected and 7.0% (13/185) using the self-collected samples. The overall agreement between self-collected and clinician-collected samples was 92%; however among HPV-positive specimens, the HPV agreement was only moderate (39.1%). The most frequently detected HPV types in the Medchal community are HPV 52 and 16.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that the HPV type distribution in both cervical cancer tissues and in a general screening population from Andhra Pradesh is similar to that reported in India and other parts of the world. We also conclude that an effective vaccine targeting HPV 16 will reduce the cervical cancer burden in AP.
Looking for pyromania: Characteristics of a consecutive sample of Finnish male criminals with histories of recidivist fire-setting between 1973 and 1993
Authors: Lindberg Nina , Holi Matti M , Tani Pekka , Virkkunen Matti
Published: December 2005

Background

As pyromania is a rare diagnosis with questionable validity, we aimed to describe a forensic psychiatric population of arson recidivists.

Methods

The medical records as well as the forensic psychiatric examination statements of 90 arson recidivists referred for pretrial psychiatric assessment in Helsinki University Hospital Department of Forensic Psychiatry between 1973 and 1993 were reviewed.

Results

The most important diagnostic categories of arson recidivists were personality disorders, psychosis and mental retardation, often with comorbid alcoholism. In all, 68% of arsonists were under alcohol intoxication during the index crime. Psychotic as well as mentally retarded persons with repeated fire-setting behaviour were mostly "pure arsonists"- persons guilty only of arsons during their criminal careers. Arson recidivists with personality disorder, in contrast, often exhibited various types of criminal behaviour and arson appeared to be only one expression of a wide range of criminal activity. Comorbid alcoholism was apparently a more rarely observed phenomenon among pure arsonists than in "nonpure arsonists". We found only three subjects fulfilling the present diagnostic criteria for pyromania.

Conclusion

Using the criteria of the DSM-IV-TR, pyromania must be regarded as an extremely rare phenomenon. Especially the question of substance intoxication as an exclusion criterion for pyromania should be reconsidered.
Understanding non-compliance to colorectal cancer screening: a case control study, nested in a randomised trial [ISRCTN83029072]
Authors: Giorgi Rossi Paolo , Federici Antonio , Bartolozzi Francesco , Farchi Sara , Borgia Piero , Guasticchi Gabriella
Published: December 2005

Background

The major limit to colorectal cancer screening effectiveness is often low compliance. We studied the reasons for non compliance and determinants of compliance to faecal occult blood tests in Lazio, Italy.

Methods

This is a case-control study nested within a trial that tested the effect of type of test and provider on colorectal cancer screening compliance. Non compliant trial subjects were classified as cases, and compliant subjects were classified as controls. We sampled 600 cases and 600 controls matched by their general practitioner, half were invited for screening at the hospital, and the other half directly at their general practitioner's office. Cases and controls answered questions on: distance from test provider, logistical problems, perception of colorectal cancer risk, confidence in screening efficacy, fear of results, presence of colorectal cancer in the family, and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Results

About 31% of cases never received the letter offering free screening, and 17% of the sampled population had already been screened. The first reported reason for non-compliance was "lack of time" (30%); the major determinant of compliance was the distance from the test provider: odds ratio >30 minutes vs <15 minutes 0.3 (95%CI = 0.2–0.7). The odds ratio for lack of time was 0.16 (95% IC 0.1–0.26). The effect was stronger if the hospital (0.03 95%CI = 0.01–0.1) rather than the general practitioner (0.3 95%CI = 0.2–0.6) was the provider. Twenty-two percent of controls were accompanied by someone to the test.

Conclusion

To increase compliance, screening programmes must involve test providers who are geographically close to the target population.
Geostatistical analysis of disease data: estimation of cancer mortality risk from empirical frequencies using Poisson kriging
Authors: Goovaerts Pierre
Published: December 2005

Background

Cancer mortality maps are used by public health officials to identify areas of excess and to guide surveillance and control activities. Quality of decision-making thus relies on an accurate quantification of risks from observed rates which can be very unreliable when computed from sparsely populated geographical units or recorded for minority populations. This paper presents a geostatistical methodology that accounts for spatially varying population sizes and spatial patterns in the processing of cancer mortality data. Simulation studies are conducted to compare the performances of Poisson kriging to a few simple smoothers (i.e. population-weighted estimators and empirical Bayes smoothers) under different scenarios for the disease frequency, the population size, and the spatial pattern of risk. A public-domain executable with example datasets is provided.

Results

The analysis of age-adjusted mortality rates for breast and cervix cancers illustrated some key features of commonly used smoothing techniques. Because of the small weight assigned to the rate observed over the entity being smoothed (kernel weight), the population-weighted average leads to risk maps that show little variability. Other techniques assign larger and similar kernel weights but they use a different piece of auxiliary information in the prediction: global or local means for global or local empirical Bayes smoothers, and spatial combination of surrounding rates for the geostatistical estimator. Simulation studies indicated that Poisson kriging outperforms other approaches for most scenarios, with a clear benefit when the risk values are spatially correlated. Global empirical Bayes smoothers provide more accurate predictions under the least frequent scenario of spatially random risk.

Conclusion

The approach presented in this paper enables researchers to incorporate the pattern of spatial dependence of mortality rates into the mapping of risk values and the quantification of the associated uncertainty, while being easier to implement than a full Bayesian model. The availability of a public-domain executable makes the geostatistical analysis of health data, and its comparison to traditional smoothers, more accessible to common users. In future papers this methodology will be generalized to the simulation of the spatial distribution of risk values and the propagation of the uncertainty attached to predicted risks in local cluster analysis.
Failure to confirm influence of Methyltetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms on age at onset of Huntington disease
Authors: Hansen Wiebke , Saft Carsten , Andrich Jürgen , Müller Thomas , Wieczorek Stefan , Epplen Jörg T , Arning Larissa
Published: December 2005

Background

Huntington disease (HD) is a fully penetrant, autosomal dominantly inherited disorder associated with abnormal expansions of a stretch of perfect CAG repeats in the 5' part of the IT15 gene. The number of repeat units is highly predictive for the age at onset (AO) of the disorder. But AO is only modestly correlated with repeat length when intermediate HD expansions are considered. Recently, suggestive association has been reported between a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs1801131, also known as A1298C) in the methyltetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene and AO of HD. 5,10-MTHFR is a key enzyme in the folate metabolism, diverting metabolites toward methylation reactions or nucleotide synthesis. Using part of a previously established study cohort plus additional patients and appropriate statistical methods, we reinvestigated two polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene, C677T and A1298C, as well as their association with AO in 167 HD patients.

Results

There was no statistically significant impact on AO for HD patients, neither of MTHFR SNPs nor of the combinations thereof.

Conclusion

Contrary to previously described evidence the A1298C polymorphism in the MTHFR gene does not appear to modulate AO of HD patients.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – A clinically empirical approach to its definition and study
Authors: Reeves William C , Wagner Dieter , Nisenbaum Rosane , Jones James F , Gurbaxani Brian , Solomon Laura , Papanicolaou Dimitris A , Unger Elizabeth R , Vernon Suzanne D , Heim Christine
Published: December 2005

Background

The lack of standardized criteria for defining chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has constrained research. The objective of this study was to apply the 1994 CFS criteria by standardized reproducible criteria.

Methods

This population-based case control study enrolled 227 adults identified from the population of Wichita with: (1) CFS (n = 58); (2) non-fatigued controls matched to CFS on sex, race, age and body mass index (n = 55); (3) persons with medically unexplained fatigue not CFS, which we term ISF (n = 59); (4) CFS accompanied by melancholic depression (n = 27); and (5) ISF plus melancholic depression (n = 28). Participants were admitted to a hospital for two days and underwent medical history and physical examination, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, and laboratory testing to identify medical and psychiatric conditions exclusionary for CFS. Illness classification at the time of the clinical study utilized two algorithms: (1) the same criteria as in the surveillance study; (2) a standardized clinically empirical algorithm based on quantitative assessment of the major domains of CFS (impairment, fatigue, and accompanying symptoms).

Results

One hundred and sixty-four participants had no exclusionary conditions at the time of this study. Clinically empirical classification identified 43 subjects as CFS, 57 as ISF, and 64 as not ill. There was minimal association between the empirical classification and classification by the surveillance criteria. Subjects empirically classified as CFS had significantly worse impairment (evaluated by the SF-36), more severe fatigue (documented by the multidimensional fatigue inventory), more frequent and severe accompanying symptoms than those with ISF, who in turn had significantly worse scores than the not ill; this was not true for classification by the surveillance algorithm.

Conclusion

The empirical definition includes all aspects of CFS specified in the 1994 case definition and identifies persons with CFS in a precise manner that can be readily reproduced by both investigators and clinicians.
A balanced transcription between telomerase and the telomeric DNA-binding proteins TRF1, TRF2 and Pot1 in resting, activated, HTLV-1-transformed and Tax-expressing human T lymphocytes
Authors: Escoffier Emmanuelle , Rezza Amélie , Roborel de Climens Aude , Belleville Aurélie , Gazzolo Louis , Gilson Eric , Duc Dodon Madeleine
Published: December 2005

Background

The functional state of human telomeres is controlled by telomerase and by a protein complex named shelterin, including the telomeric DNA-binding proteins TRF1, TRF2 and Pot1 involved in telomere capping functions. The expression of hTERT, encoding the catalytic subunit of telomerase, plays a crucial role in the control of lymphocyte proliferation by maintaining telomere homeostasis. It has been previously found that hTERT activity is down-regulated by the human T cell leukaemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) Tax protein in HTLV-1 transformed T lymphocytes. In this study, we have examined the effects of Tax expression on the transcriptional profile of telomerase and of shelterin in human T lymphocytes.

Results

We first provide evidence that the up-regulation of hTERT transcription in activated CD4+ T lymphocytes is associated with a down-regulation of that of TERF1, TERF2 and POT1 genes. Next, the down-regulation of hTERT transcription by Tax in HTLV-1 transformed or in Tax-expressing T lymphocytes is found to correlate with a significant increase of TRF2 and/or Pot1 mRNAs. Finally, ectopic expression of hTERT in one HTLV-1 T cell line induces a marked decrease in the transcription of the POT1 gene. Collectively, these observations predict that the increased transcriptional expression of shelterin genes is minimizing the impact on telomere instability induced by the down-regulation of hTERT by Tax.

Conclusion

These findings support the notion that Tax, telomerase and shelterin play a critical role in the proliferation of HTLV-1 transformed T lymphocytes.
A Role-Playing Exercise for the History of Psychology Course
Authors: Brooks Charles I.
Published: December 2005

A procedure is described in which college students portray individuals studied in the History of Psychology course. The students work in teams, and develop a presentation allowing figures from different time periods (e.g., Locke, Wundt, Thorndike, and Rogers) to discuss and debate psychological issues. Additionally, each student prepares a bibliography and position summary of the individual portrayed. Variations of this basic procedure, some more successful than others, have been tried in three different classes and are also described. It is concluded that the exercise can be a valuable pedagogical tool that gives students personal appreciation of historical figures, plus a better understanding of continuity in the evolution of psychological issues.
The Greyhound Strike: Using a Labor Dispute to Teach Descriptive Statistics
Authors: Shatz Mark A.
Published: December 2005

A simulation exercise of a labor-management dispute is used to teach students some of the basics of descriptive statistics, such as measures of central tendency and the nature of distributions. Using comparable data sets generated by the instructor, students work in small groups to develop a statistical presentation that supports their particular position in the dispute.
The Colossal Neuron: Acting Out Physiological Psychology
Authors: Hamilton Scott B. , Knox Thomas A.
Published: December 2005

Increasing enrollments in such survey courses as Introductory Psychology create special problems for the instructor interested in alternatives to traditional lecture methods. Although in-class demonstrations have been used to maintain student interest and increase the retention of information in large classroom environments, physiological psychology has been largely overlooked in terms of instructional innovation. This article provides detailed instructions concerning how to teach neuron anatomy and physiology via a /2-hour dramatic presentation involving 30 student volunteers. Data are presented to support the perceived educational and entertainment value of this active teaching method.
Mate Selection and Marriage: A Psychodynamic Family-Oriented Course
Authors: Kemp Hendrika Vande
Published: December 2005

The seminar described in this article deals with training psychologists and related professionals in the area of premarital education, via counseling and testing. Theoretically, the seminary is grounded in an integration of psychodynamic theory and psychology of the family, and focuses specifically on mate selection factors operating at the unconscious level. Each unit of the course is described briefly, with representative resources included. The presentation ends with a description of the class project and a summary of course evaluations.
Psychology and Philosophy Meet in the Classroom
Authors: Lamal P. A. , Croy Marvin
Published: December 2005

A course devoted to radical behaviorism and cognitivism as competing viewpoints is outlined. The course was team taught by a psychologist and a philosopher. Benefits and potential problems are discussed.
The Versatile Mirror Drawing Apparatus
Authors: Jacobs E. W.
Published: December 2005

The mirror drawing apparatus (MDA) is presented as a versatile tool for providing an experiential activity to emphasize key points and generate discussion, and it serves to introduce laboratory equipment to the classroom. Three specific applications of the MDA for general psychology, educational psychology, and recruiting are described in detail. Introductory lecture material, observed class reactions, and sample discussion topics are presented. Other potential uses for the MDA are also offered. Finally, some cautions are noted, and readers are urged not to be constrained by any equipment's designed purpose, but to seek creative applications.
Courage in the Classroom
Authors: Costin Frank
Published: December 2005

The achievement of educational goals through classroom instruction often requires the teacher of psychology to display a special kind of courage. This courage demands a quality of mind and action that not only enables the teacher to meet problems and issues with firmness, conviction, and persistence, but also to initiate them despite student resistance. Challenges to such courage abound. They are involved in lecturing, questioning, discussion; in treating controversial and socially sensitive issues; in bringing a historical perspective to the students' understanding of psychology; and in working with the attitudes students and teachers bring to the classroom. The courage to meet these challenges must go beyond a theoretical, abstract conviction of its necessity. Such courage requires direct action.
Module on Observation Methods: A Perspective on the Teaching of Inquiry
Authors: Hoshmand Lisa L. S. T.
Published: December 2005

An observation methods teaching module that serves to explicate the differences between detached and participant modes of inquiry is presented. The experience of applying this module to teaching 140 graduate students in a competency-based Counseling program is described. The rationale, teaching goals, learning content, and mechanisms of teaching and evaluation are detailed. The effects of the module and areas in need of development are discussed. The present approach, with its particular philosophical framework and its emphasis on the implications of different method choices in the field, is recommended for the teaching of psychological inquiry.
Students' Long-Term Evaluation of Introductory Psychology: How Psychology Compares with other Introductory Courses
Authors: Arnold J. David , Cunningham Thomas F. , Makosky Vivian P. , McGrevy David F. , Ross John A. , Searleman Alan
Published: December 2005

This survey extended the evaluation of Introductory Psychology beyond student course evaluations to a broader time framework and curricular perspective. Matriculating undergraduates who had completed Introductory Psychology evaluated the course and other introductory courses on educational application items. Results are given for Introductory Psychology, and for Psychology as compared with other introductory courses. The implications of employing these results for the curricular evaluation of Introductory Psychology are discussed.
Ambiguous Psychological Misconceptions
Authors: Ruble Richard
Published: December 2005

True/false test questions have been used to identify misconceptions about psychology (e.g., Vaughan, 1977). Brown (1984) examined nine such questions and found that the “correct” answers were misleading. In this article seven additional true/false test questions are examined and shown to be too ambiguous to be used in measuring students' understanding of psychology.
Teaching Psychology in a Prison
Authors: Osberg Timothy M.
Published: December 2005

The recent growth of prison college programs is likely to ensure that more psychologists will be needed to teach psychology in prisons. This article describes some of the special issues that arise in the teaching of psychology to prison inmates. It also summarizes the results of a survey of inmates' perceptions of how taking psychology affects them. The article concludes with a discussion of some of the special rewards of teaching psychology in a prison setting.
Teaching Activities Exchange: A Regional Report
Authors: Matthews Janet R. , Jacobs Keith W.
Published: December 2005

A teaching activities exchange at a regional psychology convention is described. The exchange included 12 poster presentations of teaching innovations at the undergraduate level. We describe this activity as a model for continuing education programs appropriate for academic psychologists and suggest that similar programs should be held at other regional psychology conventions. We also include some information about those who attended our session, as well as suggestions about how to organize similar exchanges.
PhysioPursuit: A Trivia-Type Game for the Classroom
Authors: Ackil James E.
Published: December 2005

A classroom game, based on a trivia-type game format, to help students prepare for the cumulative final exam in a physiological psychology course was designed. Details of game construction and play are described.
Commonsense and Research Findings in Personality
Authors: Barnett Mark A.
Published: December 2005

A total of 377 high school and college students completed the Personality Research Test, a 60-item true-false exam concerning research findings reported in psychology of personality textbooks. The results suggest that much of what personality textbooks purport to teach undergraduates about research findings in the area may already be known to them through common informal experiences.
Attracting the Best and the Brightest to Teach Psychology
Authors: Cole David L.
Published: December 2005

After noting that the best graduate students are eschewing academic careers, this article suggests ways that organizations within psychology could encourage the most promising undergraduate and graduate students to enter the teaching profession. Commonalities in the undergraduate behavior and attitudes of 10 successful faculty members are reviewed. The clarion call is for faculty members to encourage students who have these characteristics to seek teaching careers in psychology.
The Use of Student-Performed Developmental Exercises in the Classroom
Authors: Balch William R.
Published: December 2005

Using this technique, undergraduate volunteers test children 3 to 10 years old on a standardized set of developmental exercises. The sessions may be videotaped and shown later in class, or performed “live” in the classroom. The exercises promote understanding of developmental concepts; students consider them a worthwhile teaching tool.
On-line Literature Retrieval: An Alternative Research Strategy
Authors: Piotrowski Chris , Perdue Bob
Published: December 2005

The efficacy of using comprehensive database search strategies in performing a literature retrieval is investigated. The DIALOG service was used with DIALINDEX subject category options as the major search vehicle. Databases from the DIALINDEX subject categories PSYCH (which includes PsycINFO) and MEDICINE were accessed with two sample searches. The results indicated that databases other than PsychINFO provided relevant citations. Overlap of citations among databases was negligible. The findings suggest that on-line literature retrieval involving psychological topics should include comprehensive database strategies. Several major commercial services offers such options.
Preparing Course Materials with an Outline Processor
Authors: Rogers Richard L.
Published: December 2005

Students should benefit from a clear, explicit organization of material to be learned. Such organization is often represented in an outline. This article describes the outline processor, a microcomputer program for creating and modifying outlines. Some specific uses of the outline processor for course materials are presented.
Preparing Incoming Graduate Students for Statistics
Authors: Jannarone Robert J.
Published: December 2005

Procedures for preparing incoming graduate students in statistics, evaluation of their preparation upon arrival, and offering them remediation are described. Evidence is presented that these steps may be effective in reducing the first-year dropout rate and increasing the quality of graduate statistical training.
Datagen: A Basic Program for Generating and Analyzing Data for Use in Statistics Courses
Authors: Cake Leslie J. , Hostetter Roy C.
Published: December 2005

A BASIC program (DATAGEN) for use by instructors of statistics courses is described. DATAGEN generates unique data samples (independent or correlated) for each student from populations with parameters specified by the instructor. The program also provides the instructor with summary statistics for each generated sample. In addition, for independent data, a one-factor, completely randomized ANOVA is available. For correlated data, the program calculates prediction equations and t values for the significance of the difference between means and for the significance of the obtained correlation coefficient. DATAGEN facilitates the demonstration of some fundamental statistical concepts and encourages students to work independently.
Laboratories and Demonstrations in Child Development with Unedited Videotapes
Authors: Poole Debra Ann
Published: December 2005

Multipurpose demonstrations of child development are easy to produce by videotaping children while they interact with parents, siblings, or friends. Unlike commercial films, videotapes without narration allow students to formulate and test their own research questions. This article describes how to use unedited videotapes for laboratories in language development and a demonstration of infant development.
Encouraging Responsibility, Active Participation, and Critical Thinking in General Psychology Students
Authors: Ferguson Norman B. L.
Published: December 2005

Changes in the teaching methodology of an undergraduate psychology course are described. The goals were to increase student responsibility for and participation in the course and to promote critical thinking systematically. Responsibility was increased by having students write their own essay questions for exams. Active participation during class meetings was encouraged by using the technique of Socratic dialogue. Critical thinking was promoted by utilizing Bloom's taxonomy. Student responses on course evaluation forms indicated a high degree of satisfaction with these methods.
Assessing Students' Career Needs at a Small Private University
Authors: Ware Mark E.
Published: December 2005

The career-relevant characteristics of psychology majors at a small private university, a program of career development, and a student assessment of the program's effectiveness are identified and described. I focus on the results of the students' assessment. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of majors. Students rated sources and types of career information. Students gave higher ratings to the value of information about careers and career implementation skills than to information about career aptitudes and interests. Implications include continuing to educate students about the importance of gaining self-knowledge as a part of the career development process and continuing to provide a wide variety of sources and types of career information.
Priority in the Classical Conditioning of Children
Authors: Windholz George , Lamal P. A.
Published: December 2005

Contrary to widely held belief, Watson and Rayner's (1920) experiment with Little Albert is not the first reported case of classical conditioning of a child. Their work was preceded by that of Bogen and of Krasnogorski. Mateer's work either preceded or coincided with Watson and Rayner's. This article clarifies the chronology of these early studies of classical conditioning with human subjects.
Proximity and Student Density as Ecological Variables in a College Classroom
Authors: Holliman W. B. , Anderson H. N.
Published: December 2005

A study of the relationship between student grades and: (a) proximity (distance from the student to the instructor), (b) centrality (seating in the center of the room compared to seating toward the sides), (c) student density (presence of other students to the front, sides, and back of the student), and (d) aisle seating is reported. Volunteer students (N = 141), who selected their own seats in two Introductory Psychology classes, served as subjects. Students who occupied the front rows received higher grades than those who sat farther back. Centrality, student density, and aisle seating were not related to grades. Although these findings cannot be generalized freely, they indicate the value of studying ecological factors in classrooms.
Use of the Jigsaw Technique in Laboratory and Discussion Classes
Authors: Carroll David W.
Published: December 2005

A method for improving student performance in laboratory courses is described. Students work in small, interdependent groups in which each person contributes a unique piece of a research project. The technique is designed to encourage student cooperation during the research enterprise. Results indicate that students evaluate the approach favorably and that their academic performance improves. Some applications and potential problems of the technique are discussed.
Who Cares about Good Teaching?
Authors: Korn James H.
Published: December 2005

The number of awards for distinguished teaching in psychology and the numbers of nominations for those awards are compared to those for other awards. The data indicate relatively weak support for teaching awards programs. Suggestions are made for ways to increase that support.
Teacher Self-Ratings as a Validity Criterion for Student Evaluations
Authors: Drews David R. , Burroughs W. Jeffrey , Nokovich DeeAnn
Published: December 2005

Student ratings were validated against instructor self-ratings by assessing student—faculty agreement concerning day-to-day variability within courses. For 15 days, students and instructors in each of four courses made daily evaluations. Analysis showed that student ratings and instructor self-ratings were significantly correlated in three areas: material covered, instructor performance, and overall impressions of the success of the class. These results are consistent with those of other studies that have argued for the ability of students to provide valid course evaluations. In addition, they avoid some of the interpretive problems of other criterion measures that have been used to validate student evaluations.
Using Personal Construct Theory in Teaching History and Systems of Psychology
Authors: Tobacyk Jerome J.
Published: December 2005

A method for increasing student involvement and understanding in history of psychology courses is described. The method is based on a modification of the Role Construct Repertory Test from Kelly's personal construct theory.
Students' Ratings of College Teaching: A Social Validation
Authors: Runco Mark A. , Thurston Becky J.
Published: December 2005

This investigation was conducted to demonstrate the applicability of social validation procedures to students' ratings of college teaching. The premise of social validation is that criteria should include items that are meaningful and important to consumers. This study is unique in that the criterion was based entirely on students' ideas about effective teaching. Results indicated that there was a significant canonical correlation between four scores from a conventional instrument and two socially valid criteria (Rc = .83). However, there were also important differences between the two measures. In particular, the socially valid instrument contained many items describing teachers' interpersonal behavior and presentation of class material, but only one item reflecting subject mastery. These results suggest that social validation procedures are applicable to and important for the evaluation of college teaching.
Undergraduate Lab Project in Personality Assessment: Measurement of Anal Character
Authors: Davidson William B.
Published: December 2005

This article describes an undergraduate lab project in personality assessment. Ten students developed an objective measure of anal character by writing 104 items along three trait dimensions: frugality, orderliness, and obstinacy. This measure was administered to 126 “subjects” and students evaluated their respective items for internal reliability and for convergent and discriminant validity. The results indicate that the items were reasonably reliable and valid. The pedagogical value of the project is supported by the psychometric evidence that students capably measured their target traits.