Digital Commons Network^™

The Qingdao Twin Registry: A Focus On Chronic Disease Research, C. Anderson Johnson, Zengchang Pang, Feng Ning, Jennifer B. Unger, Shaojie Wang, Qian Guo, Weihua Cao, Liming Lee

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

With the changing patterns of morbidity and mortality in China, noncommunicable chronic diseases have become the major threats to the health of the Chinese population. The causes of chronic diseases include genetic factors and behavioral risk factors such as the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, unhealthy dietary behaviors, and lack of physical activity. Twin studies offer a unique opportunity to disentangle the genetic and environmental risk and protective factors for chronic disease. The Qingdao Twin Registry (QTR) was initiated in 1998 as part of the National Chinese Twin Registry. Over 11,000 pairs of twins and multiples of all …

Testing Tenure: Let The Market Decide, Michael Shermer

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Tenure debates and disputes are often irresolvable because of the complex and multivariate nature of contractual relationships between faculty and administration, and the nuanced and varying beliefs about tenure held by the professoriate. The Ceci et al. study leads this commentator to suggest a simple solution - allow individual institutions to define the parameters of tenure according to their unique core values.

Cultural/Interpersonal Values And Smoking In An Ethnically Diverse Sample Of Southern California Adolescents, C. Anderson Johnson, Paula Palmer, Jennifer B. Unger, Sohaila Shakib, Peggy Gallaher, Anamara Ritt-Olson, Michele Mouttapa

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

In ethnically diverse school contexts, values from multiple cultures might influence adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. This study developed scales to assess cultural values among Southern California 6- grade adolescents (N=2281) and evaluated the associations between values and smoking. The scales assessed values salient in many Hispanic and Asian cultures: Respect for Adults (e.g., filial piety, respeto). Interpersonal Harmony (e.g., saving face, simpatia), and Differentiated Gender Roles (e.g., machismo). In cross-sectional and one-year longitudinal models. Respect for Adults and Interpersonal Harmony were associated with a lower risk of lifetime smoking. The associations were significant even after controlling for demographic characteristics, friends' …

Too Many Options Dilute Shared Experience, David E. Drew, Hedley Burrell

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Despite the red carpet glitter of the Oscars, it is no secret that Hollywood has had a far from perfect year at the box office.

And unfortunately for Tinsel Town, its problems go beyond the obvious need for more successful films.

The way we experience both movies and television has evolved. We don't do things together the way we once did. We rent movies and watch them at home rather than going to a local movie theater with family and friends. Box office returns suffer and the centrality of film in our lives is weakened.

The same fragmentation is true …

Data Mining Techniques To Study Therapy Success With Autistic Children, Gondy A. Leroy, Annika Irmscher, Marjorie H. Charlop

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Autism spectrum disorder has become one of the most prevalent developmental disorders, characterized by a wide variety of symptoms. Many children need extensive therapy for years to improve their behavior and facilitate integration in society. However, few systematic evaluations are done on a large scale that can provide insights into how, where, and how therapy has an impact. We describe how data mining techniques can be used to provide insights into behavioral therapy as well as its effect on participants. To this end, we are developing a digital library of coded video segments that contains data on appropriate and inappropriate …

Senturion: Predictive Political Simulation Model, Mark Abdollahian, Michael Baranick, Brian Efird, Jacek J. Kugler

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

This paper summarizes work utilizing the Senturion predictive analysis software at the National Defense University (NDU). The Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP) at NDU has been testing the Senturion capability since 2002, and has begun to support the application of this new technology in DOD. In this paper, we begin by describing the methodology underlying the software, and then provide an overview of three case studies that used the software: a predictive analysis of the stabilization and reconstruction phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the run-up to the Iraqi elections in January 2005, and the leadership transition …

Rewarding Careers Applying Positive Psychological Science To Improve Quality Of Work Life And Organizational Effectiveness, Stewart I. Donaldson, Michelle C. Bligh

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

A hallmark of modern societies is the centrality of work and work-related activities (e.g., preparation for work and careers). Most adults are expected to spend the majority of their waking hours engaged in work- or career-focused endeavors into the foreseeable future (Donaldson, Gooler, & Weiss, 1998). A large body of research now suggests that work and careers are of primary importance, both socially and personally, for individuals across the globe. For example, the nature of one's work often imposes a schedule and structure on one's life, establishes patterns of social interaction, dictates economic status and well-being, provides others with a …

Preparing For A Rewarding Career Applying The Science Of Psychology, Dale E. Berger

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

In this chapter we hear applied psychologists provide their own perspectives on their training and career development. Drawing on these and other sources, we consider how graduate psychology programs can facilitate successful applied careers for current and future students, and we offer suggestions for students who wish to prepare for an applied career. An important lessons is that there is a wide variety of exciting new careers for which no discipline can prepare people better than psychology. Yet, we can be even more effective as a discipline if we learn from the experience of psychologists who have already established successful …

Word Association Tests Of Associative Memory And Implicit Processes: Theoretical And Assessment Issues, Alan W. Stacy, Susan L. Ames, Jerry L. Grenard

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Word association is one of the most commonly used measures of association in cognitive science. These tests have been used to infer association parameters in normative studies, to derive cues and primes used in diverse paradigms (semantic priming, cued recall, illusory memory), to test implicit memory in experimental studies, and to suggest the operation of implicit processes in nonexperimental work. This chapter briefly outlines some of the historical routes and current controversies about association and summarizes basic cognitive research applying associative tests. The authors then describe benefits and limitations of the tests, as well as implications for theory and interventions …

The Rise And Promise Of Applied Psychology In The 21st Century, Stewart I. Donaldson, Dale E. Berger

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Profound changes are occurring throughout the world in the new age of rapidly advancing information technology and globalization. The need for theory and research-based applications of the social sciences has never been greater, and is likely to grow even stronger as the 21st century unfolds. At least on the surface, applications of the social science discipline of psychology seem to be far outpacing other social sciences in terms of growth and impact on human welfare and social betterment. This volume will take you beneath the surface to discover important ways that psychology is growing as it continues to mature as …

Combatants Or Non-Combatants?: Where Private Military Companies Fit In Modern, Classical And Legal Definitions, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Many perspectives exist for why private military companies have emerged over the last decade or so: cost-effectiveness, fact reaction cycles, lack of will or inability of governments to send their own troops into peace operations. This short essay will not attempt to debate these traditional reasons given for PMC growth and operational fielding. Rather, it will make some basic observations concerning the changing nature of warfare, attempt to place PMC ascendancy within the historical context, and make some policy suggestions concerning the relationship of PMCs to international law and the state.

Suicide Bombers, Soft Targets And Appropriate Countermeasures, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Suicide bombings are receiving increased public attention now that they are taking place on an almost every other day basis against American and allied forces in the stability and support operation (SASO) environment of post-Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Iraq. In November-December 2004 alone some 27 suicide bombings took place.

Reverse Engineering Asymmetric Warfare: Applying Space-Time, Matter-Energy And Organizational-Doctrinal Analysis To Al Qaeda Operations, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The ‘crime-war’ operational environment, found in failed and failing-states dominated by non-state (criminal) soldiers, has been increasing in scope for decades. This trend is viewed as part of the process of transition from the modern (Third) to the post-modern (Fourth) epoch. Within this environment, non-state entities utilize asymmetric warfare against nation-states. The most dangerous of these opponents are those whose approach is asymmetric by nature (due to their network-type organization) and who thereby represent a direct challenger to the nation-state form. Al Qaeda fits both of these conditions and enough is known about its operations and structure to allow its …