Group membership, power and social rules: A study of doctor-nurse relationship

The purposes of this research are: (1) to compare the similarides and differences in intra-group and inter-group social rules of hospital doctors and nurses; (2) to compare rule following, rule breaking & tolerance of rule breaking of doctors and nurses with respect to different work reladonships. Professional discipline and idendficadon, ingroup-outgroup membership and reladve status were used as predictors. In-depth interview of 20 doctors and 20 nurses were conducted to elicit social rules and goals. In the second study, 30 rules and 10 goals with high consensus were selected from study one and developed into a quesdonnaire which measured their applicadon to four different work reladonships, namely, padents, peers, seniors and doctors/nurses. Forty-three doctors and one hundred and seven nurses completed this questionnaire. In the third study, the frequency and goals of violation and tolerance of violation of five different social rules were measured. One hundred and thirty-six doctors and one hundred and sixty-six nurses completed the questionnaire.

Employee adjustment to an organizational merger: An intergroup perspective

Adopting an intergroup perspective, the research was designed to examine predictors of employee responses to an organizational merger Data were collected from 465 fleet staff employed in a newly merged airline company. As predicted from social identity theory, the negative effects of the merger were most marked for employees of the low-status premerger organization. Also, as predicted, the perception of permeable intergroup boundaries in the new organization was associated positively with identification with the new organization and both job-related and person-related outcomes among employees of the low-status premerger organization but negatively with person-related outcomes among employees of the high-status premerger organization. As predicted, there was some evidence that the main and interactive effects involving status, perceived permeability, and intergroup contact on employee adjustment were mediated through strength of identification with the new organization.

Differentiation between and within groups: The influence of individualist and collectivist group norms

The power of individualist and collectivist group norms to influence intergroup and inter-individual differentiation was examined in three studies. Study I revealed that intergroup differentiation was lower when group norms prescribed individualism than when they prescribed collectivism. However inter-individual differentiation was higher when group norms endorsed individualism than when they promoted collectivism. In Studies 2 and 3 we found evidence for the moderating effect of group salience on the relationship between norms and differentiation. Specifically, the effect that individualist group norms reduced intergroup differentiation but enhanced inter-individual differentiation was more pronounced when group salience was high rather than low. This finding demonstrates that conformity to a group norm prescribing individualism influences the manner in which positive differentiation is expressed. The discussion focuses on the caveats of introducing individualist group norms when attempting to reduce intergroup differentiation. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Group outside the Sub Inspector Office during Ky visit

Group of people outside the Sub Inspector Office during visit of former South Vietnamese vice president Nguyen Cao Ky to Brisbane, Australia in January 1967.

Group of marchers during Mayday procession 1966 Brisbane, Australia

Group of marchers during Mayday procession 1966 Brisbane, Australia including children and dog. The group is passing Pearl Assurance House in Queen Street, Brisbane. Marchers have flags and banners relating to anti war and anti nuclear tests.

Megan Henderson and Gay Walkington in Wattle Dance Group, Christmas 1968

Megan Henderson and Gay Walkington in Wattle Dance Group, Christmas 1968. The Wattle Dance Group met every Saturday in the Trades Hall, Brisbane, Australia. They held an concert at the end of each year. Janet Henderson was the mainstay and taught along with a few others. Jean Leary was the pianist. She took over from Eva Bacon.

June Hill in Wattle Dance Group, Christmas 1968

June Hill in Wattle Dance Group, Christmas 1968. The Wattle Dance Group met every Saturday in the Trades Hall, Brisbane, Australia. They held an concert at the end of each year. Janet Henderson was the mainstay and taught along with a few others. Jean Leary was the pianist. She took over from Eva Bacon.

Julie Walkington and Karlin Bracegirdle in Wattle Dance Group, Christmas 1968

Julie Walkington and Karlin Bracegirdle in Wattle Dance Group, Christmas 1968. The Wattle Dance Group met every Saturday in the Trades Hall, Brisbane, Australia. They held an concert at the end of each year. Janet Henderson was the mainstay and taught along with a few others. Jean Leary was the pianist. She took over from Eva Bacon.

Concussion in contact sports: Reliable change indices of impairment and recovery

This paper reports a follow-up study to an article on the sensitivity of three tests of speed of information processing to impairment after concussion (Hinton-Bayre, Geffen, BL McFarland, 1997). Group analyses showed that practice effects can obscure the effects of concussion on information processing, thereby making the assessment of functional impairment and recovery after injury unreliable. A Reliable Change Index (RCI) was used to assess individual variations following concussion. It was found that 16 of the 20 concussed professional rugby league players were impaired 1-3 days following injury. It was also demonstrated that 7 players still displayed cognitive deficits at 1-2 weeks, before returning to preseason levels at 3-5 weeks. The RCI permits comparisons between different tests, players, and repeated assessments, thereby providing a quantitative basis for decisions regarding return to play.

Interlabial contact pressures exhibited in dysarthria following traumatic brain injury during speech and nonspeech tasks

A miniature pressure transducer was used to assess the interlabial contact pressures produced by a group of 19 adults (mean age 30.6 years) with dysarthria following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) during a set of speech and nonspeech tasks. Ten parameters relating to lip strength, endurance, rate of movement and lip pressure accuracy and stability were measured from the nonspeech tasks. The results attained by the TBI group were compared against a group of 19 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Significant differences between the groups were found for maximum interlabial contact pressure, maximum rate of repetition of maximum pressure, and lip pressure accuracy at 50 and 10% levels of maximum pressure. In regards to speech, the interlabial contact pressures generated by the TBI group and control group did not differ significantly. When expressed as percentages of maximum pressure, however, the TBI group's interlabial pressures appeared to have been generated with greater physiological effort. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Analysis of plant microfossils in archaeological deposits from two remote archipelagos: The Marshall Islands, Eastern Micronesia, and the Pitcairn Group, Southeast Polynesia

Pollen and starch residue analyses were conducted on 24 sediment samples from archaeological sites on Maloelap and Ebon Atolls in the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia, and Henderson and Pitcairn Islands in the Pitcairn Group, Southeast Polynesia. The sampled islands, two of which are mystery islands (Henderson and Pitcairn), previously occupied and abandoned before European contact, comprise three types of Pacific islands: low coral atolls, raised atolls, and volcanic islands. Pollen, starch grains, calcium oxylate crystals, and xylem cells of introduced non-Colocasia Araceae (aroids) were identified in the Marshalls and Henderson (ca. 1,900 yr B.P. and 1,200 yr B.P. at the earliest, respectively). The data provide direct evidence of prehistoric horticulture in those islands and initial fossil pollen sequences from Pitcairn Island. Combined with previous studies, the data also indicate a horticultural system on Henderson comprising both field and tree crops, with seven different cultigens, including at least two species of the Araceae. Starch grains and xylem cells of Ipomoea sp., possibly introduced 1. batatas, were identified in Pitcairn Island deposits dated to the last few centuries before European contact in 1790.

Speech production in Parkinson's disease: I. An electropalatographic investigation of tongue-palate contact patterns

Previous studies have indicated that consonant imprecision in Parkinson's disease (PD) may result from a reduction in the amplitude of lingual movements or articulatory undershoot. While this has been postulated, direct measurement of the tongue's contact with the hard palate during speech production has not been undertaken. Therefore, the present study aimed to use electropalatography (EPG) to determine the exact nature of tongue-palate contact in a group of individuals with PD and consonant imprecision (n=9). Furthermore, the current investigation also aimed to compare the results of the participants with PD to a group of aged (n=7) and young (n=8) control speakers to determine the relative contribution of ageing of the lingual musculature to any articulatory deficits noted. Participants were required to read aloud the phrase 'I saw a ___ today' with the artificial palate in-situ. Target words included the consonants /l/, /s/ and /t/ in initial position in both the /i/ and /a/ vowel environments. Phonetic transcription of phoneme productions and description of error types was completed. Furthermore, representative frames of contact were employed to describe the features of tongue-palate contact and to calculate spatial palatal indices. Results of the perceptual investigation revealed that perceived undershooting of articulatory targets distinguished the participant group with PD from the control groups. However, objective EPG assessment indicated that undershooting of the target consonant was not the cause of the perceived articulatory errors. It is, therefore, possible that reduced pressure of tongue contact with the hard palate, sub-lingual deficits or impaired articulatory timing resulted in the perceived undershooting of the target consonants.

An examination of the effects of print media exposure and contact on subjective social reality and acculturation attitudes

This study draws upon cultivation theory, acculturation theory, and works on intergroup relations to examine the effects of print media exposure and contact on subjective social reality and acculturation attitudes of Chinese immigrants in Australia. Data was gathered via a survey administered to 265 respondents with Chinese origin. Results indicate that exposure to mainstream newspapers is only positively related to one indicator of subjective reality, namely, outgroup perception whereas exposure to ethnic newspapers was not significantly related to any of the indicators of subjective reality. Acculturation attitudes, on the other hand, are more closely related to group perception and contact but not closely associated with exposure to print media. These findings have again challenged the direct effect assumption of cultivation theory, paved the ground for combining mediated communication variables with interpersonal communication variables in acculturation research and suggested policy implications for interethnic coexistence. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two men from the Bulimba Peace Group with placards during Aldermaston Peace march in 1964

Two men from the Bulimba Peace Group with placards during Aldermaston Peace march, Sunday, April 5th 1964. The Aldermaston march covered the distance between Ipswich and Brisbane, Australia, walked in relays covering approximately two miles each. Most relay sections were sponsored by one or more individual organisations.

Not if but when: Out-group reactions to the timing of disclosure of an individual's same-sex attractions

One factor that research suggests impedes positive contact between outgroup members is the experience of anxiety that can occur when anticipating negative consequences of such interactions. Research examining attitudes and behaviour towards same-sex attracted individuals indicates that this intergroup anxiety is particularly evident when the anticipated interaction involves members of the same gender. The current studies investigate the effect of timing of disclosure of a person’s same-sex attractions in an effort to identify a means of reducing this anxiety. Study 1 uses a hypothetical scenario to gain insight into participants’ stated preferences for early or delayed knowledge of a person’s sexual orientation. Results reveal an association between experiencing close contact with gay individuals of the same gender in real life (but not opposite gender), and a preference for early disclosure. Results from an experimental study concur with these findings. After a face-to-face interaction task with a confederate of the same gender, participants sit further from the confederate for the late disclosure condition when compared with the early disclosure and no disclosure control. Future studies investigating the interaction between timing of disclosure of same-sex attractions and the intimacy of disclosure (casual vs. intimate), are discussed.