Intensity Dimensions Research Articles

Consideration of moral intensity in ethicality judgements: Its relationship with whistle-blowing and need-for-cognition

Within the theoretical framework of the moral intensity model of ethical decision making (Jones, 1991), two studies ascertained the contention that ethicality judgements are contingent upon the perceived intensity of the moral issue. In addition, Study 1 extended the validity of the moral intensity notion to whistle-blowing behaviour; Study 2 addressed the effect of the individual difference variable, need-for-cognition, on differential utilization of intensity dimensions in the ethical decision process. A scenario approach was used in both studies. Results have provided convergent support for the issue-contingency nature of ethical decisions. Study 1 also showed that felt empathy for potential victims predicted the likelihood of whistle-blowing behaviour, and that the perceived overall ethicality of a wrongdoing predicted felt empathy when potential victims are psychologically and physically close. Results of Study 2 further suggested a greater utilization of issue-relevant information by high need-for-cognition individuals in ethical decision making.

On the protheticity of olfactory pleasantness and intensity.

In Exp. 1, the "protheticity" of the pleasantness of a diverse set of relatively isointensive odorants was estimated using exponents from power functions fitted by an interative least squares procedure between scale values established by (a) magnitude estimation and (b) category rating and rank ordering. In Exp. 2, this procedure was applied to intensity data derived from quarter-log-step volume dilution series of two hedonically disparate odorants, furfural and methyl salicylate. The goodness of fit of the power functions was somewhat better for the intensity than for the pleasantness data. The pleasantness dimension of the diverse stimuli was slightly prothetic (respective category scaling and rank order/magnitude estimation exponents = 0.60 and 0.63). The intensity dimension of furfural was considerably more prothetic than that of methyl salicylate (respective category/magnitude estimation exponents = 0.20 and 0.68; respective rank order/magnitude exponents = 0.21 and 0.69). These data suggest that the degree of olfactory protheticity depends upon the stimuli as well as the attributes chosen for investigation and support the view that Stevens' metathetic/prothetic dichotomy has little utility in classifying the scaling attributes of odors. Whether the degree of protheticity reflects the nature or distribution of olfactory system receptive elements within the main olfactory pathway remains an empirical question which awaits a more specific understanding of the nature of olfactory coding at the level of the neuroepithelium.

Determining organizational structure choices in advanced manufacturing technology management

The implementation of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) has been viewed as a powerful competitive weapon. Manufacturing plants that have adopted these technologies have the potential, inter alia, to gain earlier entrance to markets, to respond more quickly to changing customer needs, and to improve the quality of their products. In this study, using an advanced manufacturing technology intensity index, we first examine the variations in company performance as a function of the simultaneous effect of the dimensions of manufacturing technology intensity and structure. Secondly, using the moderator hypothesis, we propose that the more organizational structure complemented AMT's competencies, the higher the performance impact of AMT. Data from this study indicate that decentralization, described as complementary to AMT strengths, interacts positively with AMT, whereas formalization and mechanistic structure interact negatively with AMT.

On the Dimensionality of Two-Question Format Likert Attitude Scales

Previous research indicates that Likert items do not result in unidimensional ordinal rating scales nor do they consistently permit the separation of Content and Intensity dimensions. An alternative strategy is to present a separate Content (agree or disagree) item immediately followed by an Intensity (strongly or not strongly) item. Panel data from the 1992 and 1994 American National Election Studies are used to study this strategy. The results indicate that Content and Intensity are sometimes confounded with the two-part questions, and also that the joint responses to the Content and Intensity questions do not generally constitute a unidimensional scale.

Sound radiation by flat layered structures

Sound radiation by flat layered structures oscillating under the effect of random fractal forces has been investigated theoretically. The reciprocity theorem formulated earlier by the author has been used and the boundary problem solution is put down in an integral form. It is demonstrated that an acoustical pattern in the far wave field is determined by the product of the structure transmission coefficient and the Fourier spectrum of external forces. Random fractal forces are characterized by a correlation function of mass fractal dimension. It has been established that the fractal dimension of average intensity of acoustic field fluctuations coincides with the fractal dimension of the forces. Single-layer (a thin plate), double-layer, and triple-layer elastic structures are considered. It is noted that the singularity spectrum of an acoustic field radiated by a wall in a turbulent flow coincides with the singularity spectrum of wall pressure fluctuations. [This research is supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.]

Scope and intensity of logistics-based strategic alliances: A conceptual classification and managerial implications

Strategic alliances are at the forefront of current management practice. Firms with complementary skills are taking advantage of synergies among them to reduce operating costs and to secure competitive advantages. Whereas strategic alliances can take many forms, this article focuses on logistics-based strategic alliances. In these alliances, buyers, sellers, and third-party service providers in the distribution channel engage in business relationships designed to reduce the joint cost of two or more firms. We propose a typology that classifies logistics based strategic alliances along the dimensions of scope (broad versus narrow) and intensity (high versus low). Based on this typology, we offer guidelines for firms involved or interested in logistics-based strategic alliances and raise issues for further research on this topic.

Soil phosphorus: its measurement, and its uptake by plants

Phosphorus (P) is the most important nutrient element (after nitrogen) limiting agricultural production in most regions of the world. It is extremely chemically reactive, and more than 170 phosphate minerals have been identified. In all its natural forms, including organic forms, P is very stable or insoluble, and only a very small proportion exists in the soil solution at any one time. Plant-available P may be considered in either its quantitative or intensive dimension. The quantity of available P is time-specific and crop-specific, because it is the amount of P that will come into the soil solution and be taken up by the crop during its life cycle. The intensity of available P (availability) is most easily identified with its concentration in the soil solution. The soil property controlling the relationship between the solid phase P and its concentration in solution is known as the buffering capacity. The solid phase P involved in this relationship is only a small proportion of the total P, and is known as labile P. It is usually measured by isotopic exchange, but this exchangeable P component does not include the sparingly soluble compounds that also replenish the soil solution as its concentration is depleted by plant uptake. The buffering capacity is the ability of the soil solution to resist a change in its P concentration as P is removed by plant uptake or added in fertilisers or organic materials. Buffering capacity is synonymous with sorptivity, which is a preferable term in the context of the reactivity of P fertiliser with soil. It is usually measured from an adsorption isotherm. By fitting a suitable equation, such as the Langmuir, the total sorption capacity as well as the sorption strength can be determined. Both parameters are important in understanding P availability in soils. Buffering capacity has a major effect on the uptake of labile P because it is inversely related to the ease of desorption of solid phase P and its diffusion. Available P therefore is a direct function of the quantity of labile P and an inverse function of buffering capacity. This has been demonstrated in plant uptake studies. Similarly, the most effective methods of measuring available P (soil tests) are those which remove a proportion of labile P that is inversely related to buffer capacity. Soil tests which measure the concentration of P in solution actually measure availability rather than available P, and their efficacy on a range of soils will depend on the uniformity of the soils" buffer capacities. The most effective soil test usually consists of an anionic extractant. Acidic lactate or fluoride have been found most effective in New South Wales, on a wide range of soils, except calcareous soils which neutralise the acidic component (usually hydrochloric or acetic acid) of the extractant. Sodium bicarbonate (pH 8 · 5) has been found effective on calcareous soils and is widely used throughout the world. It has proved unreliable on NSW soils, and may need more thorough evaluation on non-calcareous soils in other parts of Australia.

Background and Catastrophic Tree Mortality in Tropical Moist, Wet, and Rain Forests

The process of tree mortality has dimensions of intensity, spatial, and temporal scales that reflect the characteristics of endogenic processes (i.e., senescence) and exogenic disturbances (i.e., severity, frequency, duration, spatial scale, and points of interaction with the ecosystem). Tree mortality events expressed as percent of stems or biomass per unit area, range in intensity from background ( 5% yr 1), in spatial scale from local to massive, and in temporal scale from gradual to sudden (hours to weeks). Absolute annual rates of background tree mortality (biomass or stem ha-' yr'1) can vary several fold depending on stand conditions and tend to increase with stem density. The ecological effects of a catastrophic, massive, and sudden tree mortality event contrast with those of background, local, and gradual tree mortality in terms of the direction of succession after the event, community dynamics, nutrient cycling, and possibly selection on trees. When standardized for the return frequency of disturbance events, area, and topography, the ranking of tree mortality events (trees ha-' century 1) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest is: background > hurricanes > individual tree fall gaps > landslides. Estimates of vegetation turnover rates require long-term and spatial analysis to yield accurate results.

Assessing the dimensions of pain: a multitrait-multimethod evaluation of seven measures

A multitrait-multimethod design was used to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of seven pain measures from three widely used self-report instruments designed to assess the sensory, affective and intensity dimensions of pain. The instruments were the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Pain Perception Profile and Numerical Ratings. Three distinct factor models, each corresponding to a different hypothesis about how these pain measures are related, were tested using confirmatory factor analysis in a sample of 419 headache sufferers. A three-factor model, postulating three correlated factors defined by the three assessment instruments best explained the correlations between the pain measures. Measures of sensory, affective and intensity dimensions from the three instruments failed to exhibit convergent or discriminant validity. Rather, instrument variance obscured the pain qualities the three pain instruments were designed to assess. These findings suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to how formal characteristics of pain assessment instruments influence patients' descriptions of their pain.

Preschoolers' Emotional Control in the Disappointment Paradigm and Its Relation to Temperament, Emotional Knowledge, and Family Expressiveness

The present research evaluated a conceptual model that links temperament, emotional knowledge, and family expressiveness to preschoolers' emotion regulation ability. The emotional understanding of 82 preschoolers was assessed with 2 separate tasks. After the second emotional knowledge task, the children were presented a "disappointing" prize, and their facial displays of positive and negative affect were recorded. The children and their mothers also participated in a game designed to elicit maternal expressive behavior. Mothers provided information about the preschoolers' temperament and about the frequency of positive and negative affect expressed within their families. Results indicated that children's positive displays when presented the "disappointing" prize were inversely related to the temperamental dimension of emotional intensity and positively associated with children's understanding of emotion. Maternal reports of sadness within the family were inversely related to children's positive affective displays. Children's negative emotional displays in the disappointment situation were inversely related to observed maternal positive emotion. The findings from this study give greater specification to the unique and joint contributions of temperament, emotional knowledge, and family expressiveness in predicting preschoolers' expressive control of emotion.

Preoperative and Postoperative Pain in Total Knee Replacement Patients

This descriptive study examined pain descriptors in a group of patients with arthritis prior to total knee replacement (TKR), and on postoperative days 1 and 3. The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), consisting of 78 descriptive words in 20 subclasses of descriptors scaled on intensity dimensions, was administered to each subject prior to and on two occasions after surgery. The findings support results from previous studies indicating that clusters of words are more often selected to express chronic pain, and other patterns are used to describe acute pain during the early postoperative period. Also, subjects experienced considerable pain intensity related to arthritis prior to surgery, and they reported less overall pain intensity following their TKR.

Explaining performance variance: The relative contribution of intensity and direction dimensions of competitive state anxiety

Abstract This study examined the intensity (i.e., level) and direction (i.e., debilitative/facilitative) of competitive state anxiety and self-confidence and relationships with performance, in order to determine the relative contribution that these dimensions make to explaining performance variance. A longitudinal design was employed to permit a within-subjects analysis of both the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) and performance data. The inventory included the original scale plus a direction scale in which subjects rated the degree to which the experienced intensity was either facilitative or debilitative to subsequent performance. Ten subjects comprising the Loughborough University men's basketball squad completed the modified CSAI-2 20 minutes prior to each of six league matches. The objective measure of basketball performance employed was that developed by Sonstroem and Bernardo (1982). Standardized scores were computed for all subjects' modified CSAI-2 and performance scores in order t...

Dimensions of psychobiologic reactivity: Cardiovascular responses to laboratory stressors in preschool children

Individual differences in children's physiologic responses to environmental stressors may be responsible for significant, but modest, associations found in past studies between stress and various morbidities. Because no standardized approach currently exists for eliciting and measuring cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) to laboratory stressors in preschool children, we developed a laboratory-based reactivity protocol that derives three dimensions of CVR-intensity, variability, and attenuation-and collected reliability data for each. A sample of 137 children between the ages of three and five years completed a series of seven devel-opmentally challenging tasks, comprising interpersonal, cognitive, and fine motor problems. Pulse rate (PR), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) were measured at twelve standardized points using a Dinamap oscillometric blood pressure monitor. CVR scores were calculated for each of the four cardiovascular measures using: (a) a difference score; (b) a standardized residual score; and (c) three scores characterizing the dimensions of intensity, variability, and attenuation. Four to six weeks following initial testing, the protocol was readministered to ascertain temporal stability of reactivity measures.All four cardiovascular measures were responsive to the presented tasks (p>.001), and extensive variability was found in the character of cardiovascular responses. Subjects less than four years of age showed higher task PRs and lower DBPs, SBPs, and MAPs compared to older peers, but no gender differences were found. Difference scores were highly correlated with standardized residual scores (r's=.94 and .79,p>.001 for PR and MAP, respectively), but the three reactivity dimension scores showed a lack of intercorrelation and were independent of both difference and residual scores. Only the intensity and variability dimension scores showed modest and significant test-retest reliability (r's=.25 to .50,P>.01). Although previous CVR research has generally utilized difference or residual scores, dimensional scores reflecting the intensity and variability of CVR may achieve greater reliability in preschool childen.

The determinants of subjective emotional intensity

Abstract What determines the subjective intensity of emotions? Four major groups of determinants are hypothesised: concerns (strength and relevance), appraisal, regulation, and individual differences. During six weeks subjects reported an emotion every week and answered questions on a computer. It appears that all four groups of supposed determinants are correlated with emotional intensity, the concern variables show the highest correlations. The importance of the determinants is not always the same, there are differences between the emotions and between the dimensions of emotional intensity. The relation between regulation and emotional intensity is complex: Causal relations are expected in both directions. On the one hand, a more intense emotion requires more regulation (positive causal effect), and on the other, regulation will decrease the intensity (negative causal effect). Indications of the existence of both relations are found. Regulation and intensity are positively correlated. The canonical corr...

Measuring Fertility Demand

We propose a multidimensional conceptualization of fertility demand and evaluate potential measures of each dimension, using data from a telephone survey of Wisconsin residents age 18-34. Most of the measures met tests for interval-level measurement; all produced high estimates of test-retest reliability. We found support for only two dimensions of demand, intensity and certainty; potential measures of centrality had relatively low associations with any of the latent dimensions. Demand certainty improved prediction of fertility expectations beyond a trichotomous (yes, no, don't know) measure, but demand intensity did not. We found mixed evidence for the conceptualization of fertility demand as a single continuum on which desire to avoid pregnancy is the opposite of desire to have a child.

Cardiac stimulus intensity and heartbeat detection: effects of tilt-induced changes in stroke volume.

The effects of variations in stroke volume on the intensity of cardiac stimuli was examined in a series of three experiments that employed classical psychophysical methods to assess heartbeat detection. Stroke volume was manipulated by passive body tilt and recorded using impedance cardiography while subjects performed heartbeat detection tasks. The postural manipulation generated little or no change in contractility or momentum but did produce substantial changes in stroke volume. However, this potential source of variation in cardiac stimulus magnitude did not influence either the precision of heartbeat detection or the temporal location of heartbeat sensations. It is concluded that the intensity dimension of the heartbeat stimulus is not determined by stroke volume.

Multichannel chromatography and on-line spectra from a flame photometric detector

A rotating variable interference filter has been incorporated into a flame photometric detector to acquire and simultaneously display low-resolution spectra that are diagnostic for eluting peaks. In its present form this approach yields ten chromatograms (for ten different wavelength segments) that are stored in the computer for subsequent data manipulation such as baseline correction and curve smoothing; three-dimensional display; peak and noise diagnostics; and magnification, subtraction, or elemental correlation of chromatograms. A third, spectral dimension is thus added to the conventional two, chromatographic dimensions of retention time and analyte intensity. The three-dimensional performance is at present accompanied by an order-of-magnitude loss in detection limit and linear range. Typical one-segment ( i.e. 5% dwell time) elemental detectabilities, at S/ N p-p = 2, are 7 · 10 −13 g P/s (via HPO*), 3 · 10 −11 g S/s (S 2*), 7 · 10 −12 g Ge/s (GeH*) and 4 · 10 −12 g Ru/s.

The intensity dimension of thought: Pupillometric indices of sentence processing.

This article explores the intensity of processing during sentence comprehension by measuring pupillary response during reading. Two experiments contrast the processing of simpler versus more complex sentences. The two more complex sentence types, object-relative center-embedded sentences and filler-gap sentences, not only take longer to process than their simpler counterparts, but they also produce a larger change in pupil diameter. We propose that the pupillary response is an indicator of how intensely the processing system is operating. The more complex sentences evoke some intense processing at the point in the sentence where a syntactic complexity is first encountered. The gaze durations at these points are elevated, indicating the immediate response to the demand of the syntactic processing. The pupil then starts to dilate, reaching a maximal diameter approximately 1.3 s later. The results from these various performance measures are integrated within a resource-limited computational model of comprehension. The paper develops a model of comprehension that includes an intensity dimension of thought, drawing a correspondence between the computational model's consumption of resources and the human pupillary response.

The intensity axis of symmetry and its application to image segmentation

The authors present the intensity axis of symmetry (IAS) method for describing the shape of structures in grey-scale images. They describe the spatial and intensity variations of the image simultaneously rather than by the usual two-step process of using intensity properties of the image to segment an image into regions and describing the spatial shape of these regions. The result is an image shape description that is useful for a number of computer vision applications. The method relies on minimizing an active surface functional that provides coherence in both the spatial and intensity dimensions while deforming into an axis of symmetry. Shape-based image segmentation is possible by identifying image regions associated with individual components of the IAS. The resulting image regions have geometric coherence and correspond well to visually meaningful objects in medical images. >

Achromatic form perception is based on luminance, not brightness.

Two figures were examined, one a subjective disk and the other a cup whose shape was revealed by shadows. The figures were presented in a single color on a background of a different color, and the observers adjusted the radiance of one color until, in the first case, the vividness of the subjective contour reached a minimum (minimum subjective contour) or, in the second case, the impression of depth that is due to shadows disappeared (shadow disappearance). The results for these two tasks followed the data for minimum flicker matches (made with the same stimuli) much more closely than those for direct brightness matching. We therefore claim that achromatic form perception in general and subjective contour and shadow perception in particular are based on the intensity dimension measured by flicker photometry, not on that measured by brightness matching. Finally, in agreement with these findings, bleaching of short-wavelength sensitive cones did not affect settings for subjective contours, shadows, or flicker photometry but did affect brightness matching.