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Selective Search (selective + search)
Selected AbstractsTest anxiety, evaluative stress, and susceptibility to distraction from threatEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 2 2001Edmund Keogh Examinations are perhaps one of the main methods of assessment in education. Unfortunately, there are some individuals who are so fearful of such events that performance is impaired. Test anxiety is believed to be the trait that predisposes individuals to react negatively to examinations and tests. One way in which it is believed that test anxiety affects performance is by increasing susceptibility to distraction from task-irrelevant material. However, few studies have directly investigated this impairment. An experiment was therefore conducted to investigate susceptibility to distraction in high and low test-anxious students. The task used was based on one developed by Mathews, May, Mogg and Eysenck (1990), which distinguishes between focused attention and selective search. In order to determine whether a specific susceptibility to distraction exists, the distractors were varied in terms of valence and relevance to examinations. Since test anxiety is a situation-specific trait, an evaluation-related stressor was used to trigger test-anxious reactions. A specific susceptibility to distraction from threat was found amongst high test-anxious participants who received the evaluation-related stressor. However, this effect was only found when participants were using focused attention. This suggests that the disturbed performance often found to be associated with test anxiety might be due to an inability to ignore threatening material when attempting to focus attentional resources. These results are discussed in light of current theories of test anxiety and implications for educational practice. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] 'Everything is relative': Comparison processes in social judgment The 2002 Jaspars LectureEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2003Thomas Mussweiler Any judgment involves a comparison of the evaluated target to a pertinent norm or standard, so that comparison processes lie at the core of human judgment. Despite this prominent role, however, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that underlie comparisons and produce their variable consequences. To understand these consequences, one has to examine what target knowledge is sought and activated during the comparison process. Two alternative comparison mechanisms are distinguished. Similarity testing involves a selective search for evidence indicating that the target is similar to the standard and leads to assimilation. Dissimilarity testing involves a selective search for evidence indicating that the target is dissimilar from the standard and leads to contrast. Distinguishing between these alternative mechanisms provides an integrative perspective on comparison consequences in the realm of social comparison and beyond. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A primary care provider's guide to preventive and acute care management of adults and children with sickle cell diseaseJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, Issue 5 2009Ardie Pack-Mabien RNC, CRNP (Clinical Nurse Practitioner & Nurse Manager) Abstract Purpose: To familiarize primary care providers (PCPs) with the pathophysiological processes, diagnostic evaluation, and medical management of sickle hemoglobinopathies and their complications. Current standards of care, clinical research advances, and new treatment options will also be addressed to assist PCPs in the management of sickle cell disease (SCD). Data sources: A selective search and review of the current literature on SCD and the authors' experience. Conclusions: Management of individuals with SCD is very complex, requiring a multidisciplinary approach that includes the patient or parent, PCP, specialist, nurse, and social worker. More patients living with SCD are relying on PCPs in nonspecialty practices for comprehensive disease management. Implications for practice: Newborn screening detects new cases of SCD annually. The median life expectancy has more than doubled for individuals with sickle cell anemia. Healthcare providers are now in an era of increased routine screening, assessment, and management of chronic complications from this illness not previously seen in the care of adults with SCD. [source] Inbreeding and demographic transition in the Orozco Valley (Basque Country, Spain)AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2002J.A. Peña Inbreeding in the Orozco Valley (Basque Country, Spain) between the 18th and 20th centuries was investigated on the basis of ecclesiastical dispensations and surname lists. The variations over time are very similar to those observed elsewhere in Europe, with a major increase in the coefficient of inbreeding in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This is due mainly to an increase in marriages between first cousins. A highly marked decrease in inbreeding is observed during the 20th century. The secular trends described by the coefficient calculated on the basis of dispensations and by that calculated on isonymy are very similar. The nonrandom component of isonymy reveals a selective search for a related spouse during the period of maximum inbreeding. These results are associated with the process of demographic transition which affected European populations as a whole in the 19th century, resulting in a greater availability of kin among potential mates and thus enabling inbreeding to increase to levels far higher than those observed for earlier centuries. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 14:713,720, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||