Demands and capacities or demands and performance?

The Demands and Capacities Model of stuttering purportedly provides a framework for obtaining information concerning a child's capacities for fluency and the demands placed on the child by the environment and for integrating that information in devising individual therapy plans. The current paper analyzes the model, with specific attention to the status of the “capacities” component. It is suggested that the model is more accurately characterized as a Demands and Performance rather than a Demands and Capacity Model because capacities are not actually addressed.     

The sex difference in rotary pursuit performance: aptitude or inhibition?

This study examined the hypothesis that male dominance in the acquisition and performance of rotary pursuit skill reflects a lower male proclivity for the generation and accumulation of reactive inhibition rather than some innately superior ability to profit from practice. On this hypothesis, the magnitude of male dominance should decline as the length of the intertrial interval increases. The experimental sample consisted of 120 Caucasian subjects (60 of each sex) who were given sixty 30-sec trials on rotary pursuit with intertrial intervals ranging from 0 to 40 sec. The principal finding was that the magnitude of the sex difference depended significantly upon the length of the intertrial interval, as hypothesized. When the interval was 10 sec or longer, performance levels of the sexes were essentially equal. The sex variance was reduced to insignificance even on the first trial when allowance was made for the inhibitory effect of practice. Thus, male dominance in rotary pursuit skill appears to be a procedural effect mediated by and inhibitory mechanism rather than a consequence of differential endowments of learning ability.     

Job demands, job resources and individual innovation at work: going beyond Karasek's model?

The job demands-control model is one of the most recognized models in occupational stress research. It has, however, provided contradictory results, and the active learning hypothesis derived from this model has been under-researched in comparison with research on the stress hypothesis. The main aim of this study is to test the Job Demands Resources Model in the prediction of individual innovation at work as an active coping strategy. Results with hierarchical multiple regression analyses provide empirical support for this model. We found a positive relationship between job demands and individual innovation in situations characterized by high job resources. Finally, we discuss the limitations and practical implications of this study.     

On the fragility of skilled performance: what governs choking under pressure?

Experiments 1-2 examined generic knowledge and episodic memories of putting in novice and expert golfers. Impoverished episodic recollection of specific putts among experts indicated that skilled putting is encoded in a procedural form that supports performance without the need for step-by-step attentional control. According to explicit monitoring theories of choking, such proceduralization makes putting vulnerable to decrements under pressure. Experiments 3-4 examined choking and the ability of training conditions to ameliorate it in putting and a nonproceduralized alphabet arithmetic skill analogous to mental arithmetic. Choking occurred in putting but not alphabet arithmetic. In putting, choking was unchanged by dual-task training but eliminated by self-consciousness training. These findings support explicit monitoring theories of choking and the popular but infrequently tested belief that attending to proceduralized skills hurts performance.     

Locus of control: a work-related variable?

Inconsistencies in findings between age and perceived locus of control of reinforcement were examined in light of social learning theory. Absence of work was hypothesized to reduce opportunities for reinforcement and thus expectancies. No differences were found in internal-external (I-E) locus of control among nine age groups (20 to 65 years) for subjects (882 school teachers) during the span of their work lives. It seems that I-E depends on the frequency and intensity of expectancies for behavior reinforcement sequences that work affords. Before and after work life there is not only less to control, but many of the nonwork reinforcers are not contingent on one's own behavior. Relinquishing internal control and a shift of focus toward reflection on experience and meaning of ife may well be a desirable and natural process for older people.     

Field dependence: experimenters' expectancy, sex difference or no difference?

The possibility that sex differences found in previous research on field dependence may have been due partly to experimenters' expectancy, was investigated. Three pairs of naive student-experimenters received different information about expected outcomes for males and females on the Rod and Frame Test and the Embedded Figures Test. There was no evidence of an experimenters' expectancy effect, but there was also no significant difference in the performance of men and women on these two tests of field dependence.     

Driving errors,estimated performance and individual characteristics under simulated and real road traffic conditions – A validation study

BackgroundThe suitability of driving simulators for the prediction of driving behaviour in road traffic has been able to be confirmed in respect of individual assessment parameters. However, there is a need for overarching approaches that take into account the interaction between various influencing factors in order to establish proof of validity. The aim of this study was to explore the validity of our driving simulator in respect of its ability to predict driving behaviour based on participants‘ observed driving errors and driver’s individual characteristics.Method41 healthy participants were assessed both in a Smart-Realo-Simulator and on the road. By means of linear modelling, the correlation between observed driving errors was investigated. In addition, the influence of self-reported and externally assessed driving behaviour as well as individual parameters (education and training; driving history) were analysed.ResultsBy including these factors, 58% of the variance could be explained. For observed driving errors, a relative validity was established. For self-reported and externally assessed driving behaviour, an absolute to relative validity emerged. The amount of time spent in education and training proved to have a significant influence on driving performance in the simulator, but not on the road.DiscussionIn general, our results confirmed the validity of our driving simulator with regard to observed and self-reported driving behaviour. It emerged that education and training as potential indicators of cognitive resources played a differential role regarding the study conditions. Since real road driving is considerably automated in experienced drivers, this result suggests that simulation-related behavioural regulation is challenged by additional cognitive demands as opposed to behavioural regulation extending to real road driving. However, the source of these additional cognitive demands remains currently elusive and may form the subject of future research.     

Can tutoring improve performance on a reasoning task under deadline conditions?

The present study examined the effectiveness of a tutoring technique that has been used to identify and address participants' misunderstandings in Wason's selection task. In particular, the study investigated whether the technique would lead to improvements in performance when the task was presented in a deadline format (a condition in which time restrictions are imposed). In Experiment 1, the effects of tutoring on performance were compared in free time (conditions in which no time restrictions are imposed) and deadline task formats. In Experiment 2, improvements in performance were studied in deadline task formats, in which the tutoring and test phases were separated by an interval of 1 day. The results suggested that tutoring improved performance on the selection task under deadline and in free time conditions. Additionally, the study showed that participants made errors because they had misinterpreted the task. With tutoring, they were able to modify their initial misunderstandings.     

Professional commitment: Does it buffer or intensify job demands?

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether professional commitment can be seen as a moderator in the relationship between job demands and emotional exhaustion among Norwegian nurses. Inspired by the job demands‐resources model, this study explores whether having a strong commitment to the nursing profession can be seen as a resource that buffers the effect of job demands on emotional exhaustion or, conversely, intensifies the impact of job demands. A survey that comprised Norwegian nurses who had graduated three years previously (N = 388) was conducted. Multiple regression was performed to test the hypothesis. The results provide support to a buffering effect; thus, individuals with a higher degree of professional commitment conveyed a weaker association between job demands and emotional exhaustion compared with nurses with a lower degree of commitment. Developing a better understanding of the potential buffering effect of professional commitment is of great interest. The present study is the first to utilize professional commitment as a resource within the job demands‐resources framework.     

Social dreaming:competition or complementation to individual dreaming?

Social dreaming is presented as a method to explore the unconscious dimension of the social world. The theoretical position of social dreaming and its historical development is described. Two examples are given for the practical application of social dreaming, a professional meeting of psychotherapists and an experiential workshop dealing with the aftermath of trauma. It is suggested that social dreaming is complementary to individual dreaming and offers insights and explanations, as well as guidance on various levels for applications in clinical, organizational, institutional and social settings.     

Mental Reinstatement of Context: Do individual differences in mental time travel and eyewitness occupation influence eyewitness performance over different delay intervals?

The Cognitive Interview is a memory‐enhancing interview protocol designed to optimise the access and retrieval of eyewitness memories. Its Mental Reinstatement of Context (MRC) component requires interviewees to mentally reconstruct the crime event they witnessed. Individual differences in mental time travel (MTT) relate to the extent to which a person mentally re‐experiences personal events from his or her past. Individual differences in MTT have been found to predict correct recall of a simulated crime event under immediate MRC recall conditions. To explore the relationship between MTT and performance under MRC conditions further, the present study presented a simulated crime video to 30 police officers and 26 members of the public. Eyewitness recall was tested under MRC conditions either immediately or 1 week later. Participants' general MTT and also MTT relating specifically to the crime video itself were measured via self‐report. Less correct information and more confabulations were produced after 1 week, but delay had no effect on the amount of incorrect information reported. No difference in recall was found between police officers and members of the public. Better quality MTT relating to the crime video was found to be a positive predictor of the amount of information correctly recalled under immediate conditions but not after 1 week. General MTT scores did not predict correct recall under either delay condition. Interviewers need to be aware that, due to individual differences, some witnesses may perform better under the MRC component than others.     

Learning under stress: how does it work?

The effects of stress on learning and memory are not always clear: both facilitating and impairing influences are described in the literature. Here we propose a unifying theory, which states that stress will only facilitate learning and memory processes: (i) when stress is experienced in the context and around the time of the event that needs to be remembered, and (ii) when the hormones and transmitters released in response to stress exert their actions on the same circuits as those activated by the situation, that is, when convergence in time and space takes place. The mechanism of action of stress hormones, particularly corticosteroids, can explain how stress within the context of a learning experience induces focused attention and improves memory of relevant information.     

Distracted and confused?: selective attention under load

The ability to remain focused on goal-relevant stimuli in the presence of potentially interfering distractors is crucial for any coherent cognitive function. However, simply instructing people to ignore goal-irrelevant stimuli is not sufficient for preventing their processing. Recent research reveals that distractor processing depends critically on the level and type of load involved in the processing of goal-relevant information. Whereas high perceptual load can eliminate distractor processing, high load on "frontal" cognitive control processes increases distractor processing. These findings provide a resolution to the long-standing early and late selection debate within a load theory of attention that accommodates behavioural and neuroimaging data within a framework that integrates attention research with executive function.     

Institutional Values of Managed Mental Health Care: Efficiency or Oppression?

The authors suggest that many managed mental health care (MMHC) practices have oppressive effects on members of cultural and ethnic minority groups. They examine the dissonance between institutional practices and cultural traditions that reflect insensitivity and forced conformity, particularly regarding time, pace, and intervention uniformity as applied to clients and commonly required in the MMHC industry. Los autores sugieren que muchas prácticas del cuidado administrado de la salud mental (MMHC, por sus siglas en inglés) tienen efectos opresivos sobre los miembros de grupos de minorías étnicas y culturales. Examinan también la disonancia entre prácticas institucionales y tradiciones culturales que reflejan insensibilidad y una conformidad forzada, sobre todo en lo referente a tiempo, ritmo y uniformidad de intervención tal y como se aplica a clientes y normalmente requeridos por la industria de MMHC.     

Processing demands in belief‐desire reasoning: inhibition or general difficulty?

Most 4-year-olds can predict the behavior of a person who wants an object but is mistaken about its location. More difficult is predicting behavior when the person is mistaken about location and wants to avoid the object. We tested between two explanations for children's difficulties with avoidance false belief: the Selection Processing model of inhibitory processing and a General Difficulty account. Children were presented with a false belief task and a control task, in which belief attribution was as difficult as in the false belief task. Predicting behavior in light of the character's desire to avoid the object added more difficulty in the false belief task. This finding is consistent with the Selection Processing model, but not with the General Difficulty account.     

Humor and gender roles: does age make a difference?

Crawford's analysis in 2003 suggests that humor interacts with gender so that traditional social norms of femininity and masculinity may be reinforced or diinished. Yet age as a covariate was not considered. Assessment of the attitudes toward humor among 72 older women (M=72.0, SD=9.8, range=51-93 years) and 24 older men (M=69.8, SD=6.8, range=59-90 years) in 1996 by Vitulli and Parman suggest ratings on a Likert-type scale (anchored by 5: strongly agree and 1: strongly disagree) in which humor and gender interact. Moreover, a post hoc Scheffé test showed a significant sex effect on the female-oriented scale. Older women perceived humor as an important quality for women, whereas older men did not. Generational differences among studies on humor and sex underscore the need for contemporary research inclusive of age measures.     

Crime in Atlantic City: Do casinos make a difference?

In November, 1976 a constitutional referendum in the state of New Jersey legalized casino gaming. This paper examines the impact of this action on crime in Atlantic City, the only location in the state where gambling is permitted. More specifically, the analysis looks at the incidence of FBI index crimes in that jurisdiction in two basic ways. First, the work examines the raw numbers and rate of crime in the city, both before and after the introduction of casino gambling. Although the analysis establishes that the raw figures show that there has been a significant increase in index crimes, it is argued that using these statistics as a measure of crime in Atlantic City is misleading because they fail to take into account the numerous visitors to the city when calculating the population‐at‐risk and because they do not differentiate between crime that occurs in the community and that which occurs in the casinos. The second phase of the analysis addresses these issues through the use of adjusted populations and data that identify casino‐based versus non‐casino crimes. This analysis leads us to conclude that the legalization of gambling has not resulted in a significant increase in index crimes in Atlantic City.     

Pastoral counseling and pastoral care: is there a difference?

The author argues that there is little difference between pastoral counseling and pastoral care. Utilizing an evidence-based and narrative approach, he examines the ideas of a variety of historical and contemporary writers to illustrate this thesis. Along with historical and contemporary writings on the topic, the author includes his own clinical experiences and associations to illustrate his conviction that pastoral counseling and pastoral care are more alike than different.