Affective responses as guides to category-based inferences

Initial nonconscious affective reactions to a target individual may influence a perceiver's selection from among descriptively plausible categories with which to organize his impression of the target. Specifically, a perceiver may be more likely to employ a category that is consistent, in affective tone, with the tone of his affective reaction. Subjects in two studies were exposed to photographs of faces of target individuals. Degree of preference for the faces was manipulated, outside of subjects' awareness, by varying the state of pupillary dilation. Participants in Study One reported that verbal descriptions that characterized positively (compared to negatively) evaluated category prototypes were more likely to be descriptive of targets with dilated pupils. Similarly, participants judged descriptions that characterized negatively (compared to positively) evaluated prototypes as more likely to be descriptive of targets with constricted pupils. In Study Two, subjects' recall of personality descriptions that were (evaluatively) inconsistent with their initial affective response to the target was superior to their recall of descriptions that were (evaluatively) consistent with the tone of their initial response. The data are interpreted as evidence for the importance of nonconscious affective reactions in guiding the process of impression formation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45360/1/11031_2004_Article_BF00992317.pd

High level shaker tests of the HDR reactor building

In the experiments excitation levels between OBE and SSE (German locations) with levels between 7 and 8 on the modified Mercalli scale were reached. The peak loads were up to a factor of 4.8 higher then in the case of the Friaul earthquake. The HDR reactor building, which was not designed againt earthquake, withstood those loads without global failure. The rocking mode frequency dropped from about 1.5 Hz to 1.0 Hz while increasing the load, which corresponds to a reduction of the soil stiffness by a factor of about two. Damping values for the rocking mode incrased from about 6 to 9% and 5.2 to 8.8%, for the bending mode from 2.7 to 3.5% and 4.6 to 6%, depending on the direction of vibration. While peak accelerations and displacements in the building reached maxima of 0.4 g and 5 cm respectively, local damage such as concrete cracking, but no basement uplift and no soil liquefaction occurred. Circumferential cracking around the building and soil subsidence of about 10 cm could be observ ed. The calculations could describe the principal behavior of the building, but in some cases they showed up much conservatism; e.g. the load bearing capacity of the foundation slab was predicted to be 22.000 kgm (conservative) and 38.000 kgm (best estimate), while 67.000 kgm were reached, or the propagation of accelerations in the free field were measured to be roughly up to 5 times smaller then those predicted by calculations

Mathematische Fähigkeiten bei Aufgaben zur Proportionalität und Prozentrechnung - Analysen und ausgewählte Ergebnisse

Jordan A, Kleine M, Wynands M, Flade L. Mathematische Fähigkeiten bei Aufgaben zur Proportionalität und Prozentrechnung - Analysen und ausgewählte Ergebnisse. In: Neubrand M, ed. Mathematische Kompetenzen von Schülerinnen und Schülern in Deutschland. Vertiefende Analysen im Rahmen von PISA 2000. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag; 2004: 159-173

Work engagement of employees who are parents of children with disabilities: empirical evidence from Singapore and the United Kingdom

Work engagement has attracted increased interest among human resource management scholars and practitioners. Within a family-work context, a population whose levels of work engagement has sparsely been previously studied has been that of employees who have children with special needs/disabilities (SND). These employees frequently face demanding responsibilities at home, a fact that may have implications in the workplace. Drawing on perceived family–work strain and organizational support literatures, we examine whether the disability severity of employees’ children and the support provided by the supervisor may affect employees’ levels of work engagement. Deriving data from two societies, those of Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK), the findings of this research may inform human resource management literature concerning the work engagement of employees who are parents of children with SND. Our two-society data collection rendered 430 usable questionnaires. Employees with children with SND in Singapore (n=224) reported higher work engagement levels than employees in the UK (n=206). Also, theresearch results confirmed that the relationship between child’s disability severity and employee work engagement is moderated by the support provided by the supervisor. Setting the grounds for an international discussion about human resource management and family-support practices directed toward employees with children with SND, implications and recommendations for future research are offered.<br/