Rest improves performance,nature improves happiness: Assessment of break periods on the abbreviated vigilance task

The abbreviated vigilance task can quickly generate vigilance decrements, which has been argued is due to depletion of cognitive resources needed to sustain performance. Researchers suggest inclusion of rest breaks within vigilance tasks improve overall performance (Helton & Russell, 2015; Ross, Russell, & Helton, 2014), while different types of breaks demonstrate different effects. Some literature suggests exposure to natural movements/stimuli helps restore attention (Herzog, Black, Fountaine, & Knotts, 1997; Kaplan, 1995). Participants were randomly assigned to one experimental condition: dog video breaks, robot video breaks, countdown breaks or continuous vigilance. We assessed task performance and subjective reports of stress/workload. The continuous group displayed worst performance, suggesting breaks help restore attention. The dog videos did not affect performance, however, decreased reports of distress. These results support the importance of rest breaks and acknowledge the benefit of natural stimuli for promoting wellbeing/stress relief, overall suggesting performance and wellbeing may be independent, which warrants future studies.     

The nonlinear effects of conscientiousness on overall job performance and performance dimensions in the Chinese context

The relationship between conscientiousness and job performance has been found to be nonlinear in the West, which challenges conceptually and empirically the traditional assumption of the single linear relationship. In this research, we examined the nonlinear effects of conscientiousness on both overall job performance and performance dimensions (i.e., task performance, adaptive performance and contextual performance) in the Chinese context. The results of our two studies supported some evidence for the nonlinear effect of conscientiousness on overall job performance. In addition, it was found that conscientiousness has different (linear or nonlinear) effects on performance dimensions. These findings suggest that the nonlinear effects of conscientiousness on job performance deserve further investigation, and a distinction should be made with regard to job performance in personnel evaluation. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of considering the nonlinear relationship between conscientiousness and performance criteria.     

Goal setting in teams: The impact of learning and performance goals on process and performance

This study examined the impact of three alternative types of goals (specific learning, general “do your best” learning, and specific performance) on team performance. Eighty-four-person teams engaged in an interdependent command and control simulation in which the team goal and task complexity were manipulated. Contrary to research at the individual level, teams with specific learning goals performed worse than did teams with general “do your best” learning goals or specific performance goals. The negative effects of specific learning goals relative to general “do your best” learning goals and specific performance goals were amplified under conditions of increased task complexity and were explained by the amount of coordination in the teams.     

It depends on your perspective: The role of self-relevance in stereotype-based underperformance

Much research has examined how stereotype threat leads to the underperformance of stereotyped targets. The underlying cause for this effect, however, remains unclear. Some researchers argue that stereotype threat can be explained from a behavioral-priming perspective, while others claim that it necessarily involves concerns about confirming a negative self-relevant stereotype. The current experiment highlights the critical role of self-relevance in distinguishing between stereotype priming and stereotype threat. Results showed that when participants wrote about a stereotyped target from a first-person perspective, both targets and non-targets performed poorly under stereotype threat conditions, because writing from a first-person perspective made the stereotype self-relevant for non-targets. But when participants wrote about a stereotyped target from a third-person perspective, only targets underperformed since the stereotype was already self-relevant. Moreover, when the stereotype was made self-relevant non-targets experienced the same threat-based concerns that targets experience under stereotype threat conditions.     

入世出世心理对压力和心理健康的中介作用

以319名大一学生为被试研究入世出世心理对压力和心理健康的中介作用,结果发现：（1）平常心对压力和生活满意度起部分中介作用,拼搏精神对压力和自尊起部分中介作用。（2）平常心对压力和心理症状总分、自卑、网络成瘾、敌对起部分中介作用,拼搏精神对压力和人际过敏、抑郁起部分中介作用。说明拼搏精神与平常心能缓减压力对心理健康的消极影响,培养拼搏精神和平常心是应对压力的有效途径。     

Perception and action in a far-aiming task: Inhibition demands and the functionality of the Quiet Eye in motor performance

It is incontestable that high motor performance requires an optimal coupling between perception and action. In sports as well as in professional tasks, the Quiet Eye (QE) – defined as the final fixation before movement initiation – has been found to explain a considerable amount of variance in motor performance and expertise. In the current series of studies, the underlying mechanisms of this perception-action variable were further investigated by testing predictions of the inhibition hypothesis. According to the inhibition hypothesis, the functionality of the QE is to shield movement parametrization. By manipulating the demands during response selection (Experiment 1 and Experiment 2) and movement control (Experiment 2) in a far-aiming task, it was found that – in line with the predictions – QE duration increased with increasing inhibition demands. This effect was mainly driven by the similarity rather than the number of possible actions. Moreover, the relation between inhibition demands and QE-duration were sustained through both response selection and movement control, which is perfectly in line with the notion of a continuous perception-action cycle in motor behavior. In sum, these findings corroborate the inhibition function as an integral component within a cognitive understanding of the QE phenomenon.     

自我客体化影响认知表现的研究现状

自我客体化的女性会内化他人的评价,把自己当做物品一样来定义和评价自我,并习惯性地对自己的身体以及外貌进行监测,从而导致身体羞耻、焦虑、“心流”体验的减少及身体内部感知的迟钝,并进一步造成更多的不良后果。以往的研究多关注于自我客体化在女性心理健康上造成的影响,很少有研究关注于自我客体户对认知表现的影响。本文梳理了自我客体户与认知表现的相关研究,以及自我客体户对认知表现可能的作用机制。未来研究需要从多方面来丰富自我客体化的操纵方式,通过实验的方式来检验自我客体化对认知表现的作用机制,以及考察不同的认知表现,并关注自我客体化对认知表现的累积效应。     

Looking back and falling further behind: The moderating role of rumination on the relationship between organizational politics and employee attitudes,well-being,and performance

The current study tested the theoretically relevant, yet previously unexamined, role of rumination on the relationship between politics perceptions and a variety of threat responses. Drawing from Response Styles Theory, it was argued that rumination amplifies the effects of politics by enhancing the influence of negative information on cognition, interfering with problem-solving, and undermining sources of social support. The work stress literature, along with extant politics research, served to identify four variables – job satisfaction, tension, depressed work mood, and employee effort/performance – that served as study outcomes. Across three unique samples, hypothesized relationships were strongly supported, indicating that politics perceptions negatively affected work outcomes of high ruminators, but demonstrate little influence on those who engage in less rumination. Moreover, the nonlinear influences of the focal constructs were considered and the results confirmed atypical relational forms. Contributions, implications for theory and practice, strengths and limitations, and future research directions are described.     

An investigation into the impact of acute stress on encoding in older adults

Acute psychological stress commonly occurs in young and older adults’ lives. Though several studies have examined the influence of stress on how young adults learn new information, the present study is the first to directly examine these effects in older adults. Fifty older adults (M age = 71.9) were subjected to either stress induction or a control task before learning two types of information: a short video and a series of pictures. Twenty-four hours later, they were exposed to misleading information about the video and then completed memory tests for the video and pictures. Heart rate and cortisol measures suggest that a physiological stress response was successfully induced. Though pre-encoding stress had little impact on memory accuracy, stress did influence errors of omission on the cued recall test for the video. Findings are discussed in the context of previous research examining the effects of stress on memory in older adults.     

In the heat of the moment: On the effect of state neuroticism on task performance

The aim of this study was to further shed light on the relationship between neuroticism and performance by taking into account the situation-specific experience of neuroticism when undertaking cognitive tasks. A total of 121 high-performing professionals completed a state measure of neuroticism before solving a complex cognitive task. Indicators of trait neuroticism and fluid intelligence were also collected. Analyses revealed a curvilinear effect of state neuroticism on task performance suggesting that moderate levels of neuroticism experienced in a given situation are most effective for cognitive performance. This effect remained unchanged when controlled for trait neuroticism and fluid intelligence. Findings support the importance of better understanding experiential effects of personality on task performance.     

The effect of performance setting and individual differences on the anxiety-performance relationship for elite cyclists

Fifty-three national level cyclists completed competitive rides under both laboratory and field conditions to investigate the relationship between pre-competition anxiety and performance. A total of 39 males and 14 females participated in the study, ranging in age from 19 to 26. The objectives of the study were to, (a) measure the relationship between state anxiety and performance, (b) investigate differences in the anxiety-performance relationship under laboratory versus field conditions, and (c) examine the effect of trait anxiety on the state anxiety-performance relationship. State anxiety was measured using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2; Martens, Vealey, & Burton, 1990), and trait anxiety with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970). Results indicated that anxiety was strongly correlated with performance on the field test, but that the anxiety-performance relationship was weaker under laboratory conditions. Results also showed that trait anxiety interacted with the relationship, as low and high trait-anxious subjects had differential response patterns to pre-competition anxiety. The findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for both practitioners and researchers.     

Influence of general and specific autobiographical recall on subsequent behavior: The case of cognitive performance

Two studies tested the impact of autobiographical recall of general versus specific academic success or failure on actual task performance. As expected, it was found that general memories of failure and specific memories of success resulted in worse performance than general memories of success and specific memories of failure. In Study 1, this performance pattern was obtained on a standard math test. In Study 2, it was replicated on a test of intellectual ability, and a mediation by fear of failure was documented. The present findings offer direct evidence that autobiographical memories of success and failure impact actual performance and also reveal the role of memory specificity in this influence.     

Predicting performance and performance satisfaction: mindfulness and beliefs about the ability to deal with social barriers in sport

This research investigates the role of beliefs about the ability to deal with specific social barriers and its relationships to mindfulness, football performance, and satisfaction with one's own and team performance. Study 1 aimed at eliciting these social barriers. Study 2 tested (i) whether self-efficacy referring to social barriers would predict performance over and above task-related self-efficacy and collective efficacy and (ii) the mediating role of self-efficacy to overcome social barriers in the relationship between mindfulness and performance. Participants were football (soccer) players aged 16–21 years (Study 1: N = 30; Study 2: N = 101, longitudinal sample: n = 88). Study 1 resulted in eliciting 82 social barriers referring to team, peer leadership, and coaches. Study 2 showed that task-related self-efficacy and collective efficacy explained performance satisfaction at seven-month follow-up, whereas self-efficacy referring to social barriers explained shooting performance at seven-month follow-up. Indirect associations between mindfulness and performance were found with three types of self-efficacy referring to social barriers, operating as parallel mediators. Results provide evidence for the role of beliefs about the ability to cope with social barriers and show a complex interplay between different types of self-efficacy and collective efficacy in predicting team sport performance.     

When your heart is in your mouth: the effect of second language use on negative emotions

Research on bilingualism and emotions has shown stronger emotional responses in the native language (L1) compared to a foreign language. We investigated the potential of purposeful second language (L2) use as a means of decreasing the experience of psychological distress. Native Swedish speakers read and answered questions about negative and neutral texts in their L1 (Swedish) and their L2 (English) and were asked to rate their level of distress before or after the questions. The texts and associated questions were either written in the same (within-language), or different languages (cross-language). We found that within-language trials when the text was written in participants’ native language (Swedish–Swedish) resulted in an increase of distress, whilst cross-language trials (Swedish–English) resulted in a decrease of distress. This implies that purposeful second language use can diminish levels of distress experienced following a negative event encoded in one's first language.     

Turning Points in Adults' Lives: The Effects of Gender and the Amount of Choice

The study sought to discover what women and men in their 30s regard as the most important turning points in their lives, and whether the amount of choice they have in relation to these events influences the way in which turning points are evaluated. The study was part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, started in 1968. Data for the present study was collected by means of interviews conducted when the participants (n = 283) were 36 years old. Turning points were most often related to family, education, work, and social transitions. Women regarded parenthood, the health problems of people close to them, and moving to another community as turning points more often than men; whereas men regarded occupational events, military service, and changes in their lifestyle as turning points more often than women. Individuals tended to mention turning points over which they had a large amount of choice. The more personal choice the participants had enjoyed at the time of a turning point, the more positively they evaluated it at the time, and also later on.     

Examining the impact of salesperson interpersonal mentalizing skills on performance: the role of attachment anxiety and subjective happiness

Due to the dynamic and interpersonal nature of selling, understanding affective and cognitive relationships and their influence on performance has gained the attention of sales scholars. Moreover, recent literature has created opportunities to study the impact of cognitions, such as salesperson theory-of-mind, on sales performance. This research develops a model involving salesperson interpersonal mentalizing skills (i.e. rapport building, detecting nonverbal cues, taking a bird’s-eye view, shaping the interactions), subjective happiness, attachment anxiety, and sales performance. Although salesforce optimization is critical in any economy, emerging economies are the growth frontier for many global companies. Using three samples from Brazil, we investigate the telecom, banking, and retail industries, providing generalizable results from one such emerging economy. We find that, in general, it is the influence of attachment anxiety and subjective happiness on interpersonal mentalizing skills which ultimately impacts sales performance. Based on these findings, we discuss several theoretical and managerial implications.     

Effects of age on attention level: changes in performance between the ages of 12 and 90

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to assess the changes in attention level among individuals between the ages of 12 and 90 years. A cross-sectional design was used, with each participant tested once by means of the Mathematics Continuous Performance Test (MATH-CPT). Participants were 496 males and females who were divided into eight age-groups, with each group spanning a period of ten years. Attention level was assessed through comparison with nine variables assessing attention. As people aged, significant reductions in the quality of performance emerged on the five main measures of the MATH-CPT: Two of the four sustained attention variables showed an improvement with age. The peak attention level was in the 30 to a 40-age range, after that, there was a constant decline in the level of attention. The study offers encouraging results with respect to the effect of aging on cognitive functioning and specifically sustained attention.     

Organizational climate and investigation performance in the Norwegian police: A qualitative study

The present study aimed to identify organizational climate dimensions that are salient for police investigation performance and to explicate the mechanisms of the relationship between organizational climate and investigation performance. We conducted 38 semistructured interviews with participants at three job levels of police investigative work (chiefs of police, n  = 11, senior investigating officers, n  = 14, detectives, n  = 13) in 11 Norwegian police districts. We analyzed the interview data by using a model of organizational climate based on the competing values framework (Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983). Two types of climate, human relations climate and rational goal climate, were perceived to enhance investigation performance. The findings indicate that a human relations climate enhances investigation performance by developing collective human capital and by supporting internal and external cooperation and coordination of resources. Moreover, the findings suggest that a rational goal climate increases investigation performance by encouraging planning, goal setting, and task focus.     

Once the money is in sight: Distinctive effects of conscious and unconscious rewards on task performance

Monetary rewards facilitate performance on behavioral and cognitive tasks, even when these rewards are perceived without conscious awareness. Also, recent research suggests that consciously (vs. unconsciously) perceived rewards may prompt people to more strongly concentrate on task stimuli and details. Here we propose that the latter is sometimes dysfunctional, in that it prevents improvements in task performance. We used an Attentional Blink paradigm, in which such enhanced concentration on task stimuli is detrimental to performance. Participants were consciously (supraliminally) or unconsciously (subliminally) exposed to a high-value or low-value coin that they could earn by performing well on an Attentional Blink trial. As hypothesized, high-value rewards increased performance when they were presented subliminally, while this performance benefit vanished when high-value rewards were presented consciously. We discuss this finding in the context of recent research on unconscious goal pursuit.