Money, moral transgressions, and blame

Two experiments tested participants' attributions for others' immoral behaviors when conducted for more versus less money. We hypothesized and found that observers would blame wrongdoers more when seeing a transgression enacted for little rather than a lot of money, and that this would be evident in observers' hand-washing behavior. Experiment 1 used a cognitive dissonance paradigm. Participants (N = 160) observed a confederate lie in exchange for either a relatively large or a small monetary payment. Participants blamed the liar more in the small (versus large) money condition. Participants (N = 184) in Experiment 2 saw images of someone knocking over another to obtain a small, medium, or large monetary sum. In the small (versus large) money condition, participants blamed the perpetrator (money) more. Hence, participants assigned less blame to moral wrong-doers, if the latter enacted their deed to obtain relatively large sums of money. Small amounts of money accentuate the immorality of others' transgressions

Sweet instigator. Choosing increases the susceptibility to affective product features.

The present research demonstrates that repeated active choice-making increases the susceptibility of consumers to salient affective product features. We show that affective features influence product choice more after a series of active product choices than after a series of compliances with purchase instructions. The combined results of three experiments suggest that repeated choice gradually depletes the mental capacity required for critical evaluation of choice alternatives, while ruling out alternative explanations. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory and management of impulse purchasing.Affective product features; Choice; Cognitive product features; Consumer decision making; Evaluation; Implications;

Abstract thinking and its correlates with insight, metacognition and social cognition in the early and prolonged phases of schizophrenia

poster abstractSchizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects approximately one percent of the population worldwide. Symptoms of the illness include abnormal perceptual experiences, social withdrawal and cognitive impairments, with the mechanisms underlying the illness still being ambiguous. Abstract thinking, a core deficit in schizophrenia, is characterized by adaptability, flexibility, and the use of concepts and generalizations. However, its changes along with the different phases of the illness are still obscure. The limited data available suggests that those in the earlier phases of schizophrenia tend to have a higher capacity for abstraction than those in the prolonged phases (Wang et. al, 2013). In addition to the differences across the illness phase, supplemental studies further suggest that abstract thinking could be related to clinical insight, or the awareness of one’s illness (Dickerson, et. al, 1997). Therefore, in this study we examined the differences in abstract thinking between two groups; patients with chronic schizophrenia and patients with early onset schizophrenia. Furthermore, we conducted exploratory analyses of abstraction with clinical insight, metacognition and social cognition, hypothesizing that patients with better abstract thinking would possess better insight and cognition. The results from the 70 patient study indicate that while abstract thinking did not differ across the phases of the illness, it was significantly correlated with insight, metacognition and social cognition. This relationship between abstract thinking and insight and cognition, elucidated by the theory that more fluid and liberal thought patterns would enable patients to contemplate their own illness and its symptoms, could be crucial in developing novel therapeutic approaches for treating psychosis and might lead to better outcomes

Umwelt- und Ressourcenkosten nach der EU-Wasserrahmenrichtlinie – Konzept und Umsetzung in die Praxis

Artikel 9 der EU-Wasserrahmenrichtlinie fordert die Mitgliedstaaten auf, den Grundsatz der Deckung der Kosten der Wasserdienstleistungen einschließlich umwelt- und ressourcenbezogener Kosten zu berücksichtigen. Dabei ist allerdings unklar, wie genau diese Kosten zu definieren und insbesondere zu erfassen sind. Des Weiteren existieren sehr unterschiedliche Auffassungen, welche Tätigkeiten zu den Wasserdienstleistungen zu zählen sind. Dieser Artikel soll, ausgehend vom aktuellen Stand der Diskussion in Wissenschaft und Praxis, anhand eines Fallbeispiels aufzeigen wie genau solche Kosten erfasst werden und für welche Problemstellungen sie Anwendung finden könnten

Growth and structure of Pd films on ZnO(0001)

The growth and structure of Pd films on ZnO(0001) were investigated using high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and low energy electron diffraction. Vapor deposited Pd films at 300 K were found to follow a two-dimensional (2D) island growth mode, in which 2D metal islands are formed up to a critical coverage at which point growth occurs primarily in a layer-by-layer fashion on top of the islands. Heating to only 350 K was found to be sufficient to induce partial agglomeration of Pd films into three-dimensional particles. In addition to causing further agglomeration into particles, heating to 700 K resulted in partial reduction of the ZnO surface and the formation of a PdZn alloy

Site requirements for the reactions of CH\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eSH and (CH\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e)\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eS\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e on ZnO(\u3csub\u3e10(1)Overbar 0\u3c/sub\u3e)

Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) was used to investigate the adsorption and reaction of CH3SH and (CH3)2S2 on the nonpolar (10(1) Overbar 0) surface of ZnO. Methanethiol was found to dissociate on the (10(1)Overbar 0) surface to produce adsorbed methylthiolates. The primary reaction pathways for the methylthiolates were methyl group transfer between adjacent thiolates to produce (CH3)2S at 510 K, and transfer of methyl groups to surface lattice oxygen to produce adsorbed methoxides which were oxidized to CH2O at 525 K and adsorbed formate. Dimethyldisulfide was found to dissociate via cleavage of the S-S bond to form adsorbed methylthiolates. The reaction pathways for thiolates produced in this manner were similar to those produced from CH3SH except for an additional low-temperature pathway for the production of CH2O. Comparison of the results obtained in this study to our previous study of the reaction of CH3SH and (CH3)2S2 on ZnO(0001) and published STM studies of ZnO (10(1) Overbar 0) and ZnO(0001) indicates that step edges are the active sites for the reaction of thiols and disulfides on these surface