Effects of Casual Attributions of Performance Outcome on Nature of Self-Statements and Self-Esteem

36 college students participated in a study to determine the role of causal attributions of success and failure on the modification of self-esteem. Although Brockner (1979) has suggested that the key to augmenting self-esteem is the increasing of positive self-evaluation that follows success, several studies suggest that it is not the positive self-evaluation after success but the negative self-evaluations after failure that are crucial in determining one\u27s level of self-esteem. Thus it was hypothesized in the present study that if external attributions were made for failures while internal attributions for success were maintained, self-esteem would increase. Subjects high and low in self-esteem were given instructions designed to influence their attributions for the outcome of individual trials on a task in which they were led to believe that their overall performance had been superior. Cognitions following each trial were measured by a thought listing procedure. A no-instruction control group and a group, which had been instructed to make internal attributions after success, showed no change in self-esteem. However, both the high and low self-esteem subjects that had been instructed to attribute failure to external factors and success to internal factors showed such a change. The self-esteem of the high self-esteem grot1p decreased while the self-esteem of the low self-esteem group increased. These results were discussed in terms of a reconceptualization of the differences in performance outcome attributions by individuals high and low in self-esteem

Optimization of Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) Parameters for Selective Removal of MOSFET Gate Dielectric and Evaluation of its Physical and Electrical Properties

The integrated circuit (IC) is dominated by technology using Complementary Metal-oxide-Semiconductor Field-effect Transistor (CMOSFET). In order to put over 300 million transistors on silicon chip requires selective removal of material by Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) which ensures vertical cut thereby increasing packing density of devices on the chip. The gate insulator of CMOS devices plays a crucial role in its electrical performance. In this research gate insulator of MOSFET has been etched by state-of-art technique RIE and its physical and electrical properties have been measured. The gate insulator etching by RIE give rise to charge accumulation on the gate dielectric resulting in change in threshold voltage. Also early breakdown of MOS devices is a direct consequence of charge accumulation on gate dielectric during RIE process. The RIE etching was performed with Technics Series 85-RIE unit, and it was optimized in respect of power, pressure, and composition of gases to achieve less charge accumulation, and stable threshold voltage. The thickness of the gate insulator was measured by the Nanospec before and after etching. Charges accumulated on gate oxide were measured by HP 4280A which is a high frequency capacitance-voltage (CV) measurement system. Annealing of the RIE etched gate oxide were performed at suitable temperature to bring the charges to minimum level. Results of the research are presented in tables and figures

History as Community-Based Research and the Pedagogy of Discovery: Teaching Racial Inequality, Documenting Local History, and Building Links Between Students and Communities in Mississippi and Tennessee

In this article we describe the process of implementing a community-based research project that linked student learning with documenting elements of local histories surrounding the civil rights movement in Mississippi and Tennessee. We show that developing a dialogue among community members, ourselves, and our students worked to democratize the research project, produce strong support among the community members, and contribute to an improved understanding of racial inequality for our students. We rely on our accounts of the process, student journals, and oral histories compiled during the research. Our findings show that there are considerable opportunities for community-based research around documenting and sharing key memories and that these can be realized even when the priorities between researchers and community members do not align. Our historically-oriented fieldwork, research, and findings serve to link service-learning to community-based research

Strategic priorities for agricultural development in Eastern and Central Africa:

"Agricultural development strategies delineate priorities for actions to enhance agricultural and overall development. They are usually put forward by individual countries based on assessments of national needs. Seldom are attempts made to identify strategic priorities for agricultural development that cut across national boundaries. This gap is perhaps not surprising—organizations mandated to develop and implement regional agricultural development programs are rare. Although the gap may be understandable, it is also troubling. This report helps to fill that gap for eastern and central Africa (ECA), focusing on Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Recent trends and the current performance of agriculture in these countries expose a region progressively less able to meet the needs of its burgeoning population... The analysis... suggests that to avoid the bleak growth and poverty outcomes implied by business-as-usual in agriculture, ECA governments must invest in combinations of measures that (1) spur productivity growth, focusing on subsectors with high demand within ECA; (2) strengthen agricultural markets; (3) enhance linkages between agricultural and nonagricultural sectors; and (4) exploit opportunities for regional cooperation." from Authors' AbstractAgricultural development, Agriculture Economic aspects, Agricultural development projects, Eastern Africa,

Interviews with Charles E. Wood and the Golden age Club

Interviews with Charles E. Wood and the Golden age Club on May 5, 1963 by Charles W. Wood. 00:00:16 - Introduction regarding his birth in Kentucky in 1892 and his work in the coal mines as a young teenager. 00:01:20 - Description of the coal mines 00:04:30 - Length of career as a coal miner 00:05:26 - John L. Lewis and Union benefits 00:08:20 - Working conditions 00:11:06 - Specifics of the job 00:12:53 - Mining accidents, cave-ins, and a gas explosion in 1910 00:15:23 - Death of Shirley Kittinger in a cave-in 00:16:34 - Strikes 00:18:59 - Types of coal and details about the mines 00:24:40 - Various jobs he\u27s held 00:25:00 - Timbering and the squeeze 00:27:06 - Flood of 1937, working conditions, and salary 00:31:10 - Interview with the Golden Age Club on March 18, 1963 in Hays, KS by Samuel J. Sackett 00:31:30 - Mingled discussion 00:32:03 - A version of the town naming of Wamego, KS by Mrs. Frank Holcomb of Hays, KS 00:33:27 - Irish relatives coming to visit in Kansas 00:35:17 - Mingled discussion 00:37:03 - Using the moon phase and the zodiac to make farming decisions 00:39:33 - William D. Walburn, experiences moving to Kansas from Oklahoma in a covered wagon in 1897. 00:46:33 - Weather predictions 00:48:01 - Reading fortunes in coffee grounds and tea leaves 00:51:41 - Using bread board scrapings to choose a wife 00:52:54 - Recipe for boardfish 00:53:39 - Stone posts, stone houses, and the stone museum 00:57:04 - Mingled discussion 00:59:24 - Mule jokes 01:02:15 - Fish stories 01:04:13 - Mingled discussion 01:08:31 - Making hominy 01:08:42 - Mingled discussionhttps://scholars.fhsu.edu/sackett/1081/thumbnail.jp

Anxiety, Attentional Control, and Performance Impairment in Penalty Kicks

© 2009 Human Kinetics, IncThe current study sought to test the predictions of attentional control theory (ACT) in a sporting environment. Fourteen experienced footballers took penalty kicks under low- and high-threat counterbalanced conditions while wearing a gaze registration system. Fixations to target locations (goalkeeper and goal area) were determined using frame-by-frame analysis. When anxious, footballers made faster first fixations and fixated for significantly longer toward the goalkeeper. This disruption in gaze behavior brought about significant reductions in shooting accuracy, with shots becoming significantly centralized and within the goalkeeper’s reach. These findings support the predictions of ACT, as anxious participants were more likely to focus on the “threatening” goalkeeper, owing to an increased influence of the stimulus-driven attentional control system

The influence of anxiety on visual attentional control in basketball free throw shooting.

addresses: School of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, St. Luke's Campus, Exeter, U.K.types: Journal Article© 2009 Human Kinetics, IncThe aim of this study was to test the predictions of attentional control theory using the quiet eye period as an objective measure of attentional control. Ten basketball players took free throws in two counterbalanced experimental conditions designed to manipulate the anxiety they experienced. Point of gaze was measured using an ASL Mobile Eye tracker and fixations including the quiet eye were determined using frame-by-frame analysis. The manipulation of anxiety resulted in significant reductions in the duration of the quiet eye period and free throw success rate, thus supporting the predictions of attentional control theory. Anxiety impaired goal-directed attentional control (quiet eye period) at the expense of stimulus-driven control (more fixations of shorter duration to various targets). The findings suggest that attentional control theory may be a useful theoretical framework for examining the relationship between anxiety and performance in visuomotor sport skills

Design to Delivery of Additively Manufactured Propulsion Systems for the SWARM-EX Mission

Recent progress in miniaturized spacecraft propulsion technology has allowed for the development of complex, multi-vehicle missions which enable the cost-effective realization of science goals that would previously have been prohibitively expensive. The upcoming NSF-funded Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale EXperiment (SWARM-EX) mission leverages these swarm techniques to demonstrate novel autonomous formation flying capabilities while characterizing the spatial and temporal variability of ion-neutral interactions in the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly and Equatorial Thermospheric Anomaly. SWARM-EX will fly a trio of 3U CubeSats in a variety of relative orbits with along-track separations ranging from 3 km to 1300 km. To achieve the required orbital variability, the mission uses a novel hybrid approach of differential drag and an onboard cold gas propulsion system. Mission requirements necessitate a propulsion system that provides each spacecraft with 15 m/s of ∆V and a maximum thrust greater than 5 mN in a volume of roughly 0.7U (7 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm). Unlike many other CubeSat-scale cold gas propulsion systems which are used to provide attitude control and perform reaction wheel desaturation burns, the primary objective of the SWARM-EX propulsion system (SEPS) is to provide ∆V during maneuvers. The Georgia Institute of Technology Space Systems Design Laboratory (SSDL) is conducting the design, assembly, and testing of three identical SEPS. By leveraging additive manufacturing technology, the propellant tanks, nozzle, and tubing are combined into a single structure that efficiently utilizes the allocated volume. The propulsion system uses two-phase R-236fa refrigerant as a propellant, which allows for the storage of the majority of propellant mass as a liquid to maximize volumetric efficiency. The final design allows for 17 m/s of total ∆V per spacecraft and a measured maximum thrust of approximately 35 mN for short pulse lengths at room temperature. Each individual propulsion system has a volume under 0.5U (489 cm3), making them among the smallest formation-flying CubeSat-scale propulsion systems developed thus far. Owing to their two-phase propellant storage and single nozzle, the SEPS have a high impulse density (total impulse provided per unit of system volume) of 176 N-s/L. Additionally, process improvements to mitigate known failure modes such as propellant leaks and foreign object debris are implemented. This paper describes the entire design-to-delivery life cycle of the SWARM-EX propulsion units, including pertinent mission requirements, propulsion system design methodologies, assembly, and testing. Major lessons learned for future small satellite propulsive endeavors are also detailed