Divergent thinking in act generation

Act generation is a process used in decision making and problem solving to create possible actions that might solve a problem. An act generation experiment was conducted using undergraduates and advanced graduate students. Large performance differences were observed between the two groups in act generation performance and divergent thinking ability. Divergent thinking ability, as measured by Guilford's Alternate Uses test, was approximately twice as high for the graduate subjects as compared to the undergraduates, and similar differences were observed in act generation performance. The correlation between divergent thinking scores and two act generation performance measures were 0.43 and 0.49 for the combined groups. These results suggests that divergent thinking ability is an important predictor of act generation performance.     

Validation of two devices for evaluation of human psychomotor performance

The Pursuit Meter III (PM III) and the Simultaneous Hand and Foot Tracking (SHAFT) task are microcomputer-based devices for the evaluation of human psychomotor performance. Both devices are pursuit-tracking tasks. The primary task (PM III) requires a subject superimpose a line over a computer-generated sine wave. The computer wave is black and the subject's wave is red. The vertical position of the subject's wave is determined by a joystick controller. The SHAFT adds a second simultaneous tracking task (FTT) that is operated by means of a foot control. Ten naive subjects performed either device for 5 sessions/day over a three-day period. Each session consisted of 5 sweeps of the sine wave pattern. Mean performance on both tasks generally improved over the assessment period, and differential stability was reached within 10 sweeps for each device.     

Part-set cueing and the generation effect: An evaluation of a two-mechanism account of part-set cueing

The part-set cueing effect refers to paradoxical memory impairment often observed when elements from a set of items appear as ostensibly helpful retrieval cues during testing of memory for the set. We tested predictions of a two-mechanism account of part-set cueing—that, without enhanced relational processing, standard encoding leaves items susceptible to cueing-induced inhibition that persists after cues are removed; and that increasing item-specific encoding increases this persisting inhibition. Experiment 1 used antonym generation during study to increase item-specific encoding relative to standard encoding. Tests using item-specific probes revealed greater cueing-induced impairment for the generation condition, as predicted. However, when part-set cues were later removed, this impairment abated significantly in the generation condition and even disappeared in the standard-encoding condition—effects not predicted by the two-mechanism account, challenging its completeness. In Experiment 2, we ruled out an artifactual explanation of these results by replicating previously reported persisting impairment on free recall tests.     

Analyzing human random generation behavior: A review of methods used and a computer program for describing performance

In this paper, we consider the different methods that have been developed to quantify random generation behavior and incorporate these measurement scales into a Windows95 computer program called RgCalc. RgCalc analyzes the quality of human attempts at random generation and can provide computer-generated, pseudorandom sequences for comparison. The program is designed to be appropriate for the analysis of various types of random generation situations employed in the psychological literature. The different algorithms for the evaluation of a dataset are detailed and an outline of the program is described. Performance measures are available for assessing various aspects of the response distribution, the sequencing of pairs, the ordinal relationships between sets of items, and the tendency to repeat alternatives over different lengths. A factor analysis is used to illustrate the multiple dimensions underlying human randomization processes.     

Determinants of evaluation of team performance

Abstract.— The purpose of this study was to examine factors affecting the evaluation of the achievement behavior of a group . Subjects were asked to play the role of team members who have to convey their feedback to the whole team right after the performance. 214 subjects (males and females, high and low achievers) evaluated the achievement behavior of a group, a sports team. They were given knowledge of the group's performance outcomes (5 outcomes from clear win to clear loss), of the group's ability (yes or no) and of the effort (yes or no) expended by the group members. These factors yielded the 20 situations judged by each subject. In addition, half of the subjects evaluated a team performing under conditions of high competition and half under conditions of low competition. The results revealed that effort and outcome form major determinants of achievement judgments, but effects of these determinants depend on the joint influences of effort, outcome and ability. Need for achievement level of subjects and the type of situation did not affect achievement judgments. Overall, females were more rewarding among themselves than males in their own groups.     

Diagnostic hypothesis generation and human judgment

Diagnostic hypothesis-generation processes are ubiquitous in human reasoning. For example, clinicians generate disease hypotheses to explain symptoms and help guide treatment, auditors generate hypotheses for identifying sources of accounting errors, and laypeople generate hypotheses to explain patterns of information (i.e., data) in the environment. The authors introduce a general model of human judgment aimed at describing how people generate hypotheses from memory and how these hypotheses serve as the basis of probability judgment and hypothesis testing. In 3 simulation studies, the authors illustrate the properties of the model, as well as its applicability to explaining several common findings in judgment and decision making, including how errors and biases in hypothesis generation can cascade into errors and biases in judgment.     

Work planning and performance review as a basis for merit pay decisions: An evaluation

The Work Planning and Performance Review (WPPR) System, developed in a midwestern state as a basis for pay-for-performance decisions in the state government, is described. The WPPR's job relevance was evaluated in one state agency by comparing WPPR scores with scores on a behavioral checklist developed for that purpose. Supervisor and subordinate perceptions of the relevance of the two systems are described. Comparison and perception data indicate the WPPR lacks content validity. Probable impact on the merit pay system is discussed.     

Free will and the human act in seventeenth century Eastern Orthodox theology

This article analyses the doctrine of free will (autexousion) in the confessions of St. Peter Mogila and Dositheos II Notaras of Jerusalem. Free will is a central concept in Eastern Christian anthropology and these two monuments of theology represent how the understanding of the concept of free will developed in Eastern Orthodox theology in the context of the confrontation with Western theologies in the seventeenth century.     

Controlling human fixed-interval performance

Both high and relatively constant rates of responding without post-reinforcement pauses and lower rates with pauses after reinforcement are produced by human subjects under fixed-interval (FI) schedules. Such FI rates and patterns may be controlled when subjects are provided with different histories of conditioning and different conditions of response cost (reinforcement penalties per response). Subjects with a conditioning history under ratio schedules typically produce high and relatively constant rates of responding under FI schedules; this responding does not change systematically with changes in FI value. In contrast, subjects with a history under schedules which produce little or no responding between reforcements [such as differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) schedules] tend to pause after reinforcement and respond at low rates under FI schedules, whether or not they also have ratio conditioning histories; cost increases the likelihood of this type of performance. For DRL-history subjects, post-reinforcement pauses increase and response rates decrease as FI values increase.