Transferring More than Learned in Training: Employees' and managers' (over)generalization of skills

Across two studies, we examine the extent to which individuals accurately report their learning and transfer in a training context. In Study 1, we examine self (subordinate) and supervisory estimations of training transfer, 6–12 weeks after employees (subordinates) attended training in an organization in the United States. Using ratings of skills unrelated to training programs attended, we compared managers' and employees' ratings to determine the extent to which respondents report skill overgeneralization. Individual differences and skill visibility were examined as predictors of training transfer overgeneralization. Subordinates, particularly those high on conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability, are more likely to report transfer in areas not covered in training. Conversely, when managers rate skills, which are used in their subordinates' day‐to‐day activities (more observable, visible, or transparent skills), training transfer estimates are more accurate. In Study 2, we determine that conscientiousness is the main factor driving raters' overgeneralization (for self‐ratings), and we further demonstrate that other personality dimensions – insecurity and perfectionism – accentuate the influence of conscientiousness on trainees' overgeneralization. From a practical standpoint, employers need to be aware of potential for biases in training transfer ratings when evaluating training transfer, particularly for employees with specific personality characteristics and for those who are in jobs with low skill visibility.     

Assessing Training Needs: Do Work Experience and Capability Matter?

Despite the crucial nature of needs assessment in training design and development, very little empirical work examining factors that influence such ratings has been undertaken. We investigated the impact of individuals' levels of work experience, self-efficacy, and skill proficiency on their subsequent ratings of training needs. Our results indicate that self-efficacy and skill proficiency are positively related to importance and frequency ratings for both skills and job tasks. However, when considered collectively, skill proficiency was a more potent influence, suggesting that an individual's actual capability may have a greater impact on ratings of training needs than his or her perceived capability (i.e., self-efficacy). Implications for future research and training needs assessment practice are discussed.     

Effects of counsellor training: Further findings

The 1972/73 class of the University of Aston's Diploma in Counselling course were measured one year after training on their ability to respond empathically and on their ability to discriminate the quality of other counsellors' responses. The same group was also administered the Counsellor Attitude Scale six months and one year after their training. Differences from the administration at the end of the course were not significant on any measures, indicating that skills and attitudes persisted after training. Additionally, during the 1973/74 academic year, the Counsellor Attitude Scale was administered both at five different stages on the Aston course and also to other counsellor training courses. Results of the various CAS administrations are reported, and reasons are suggested for the different outcomes which seem – inter alia – to indicate the value of starting long courses with an intensive client-centred workshop.     

Correspondence between children's and adults' ratings of stimulant-induced changes in ADHD behaviours in a crossover trial with medication-naive children

Correspondence between children's and adults' ratings of changes in ADHD behaviours was investigated in a paediatric ADHD stimulant crossover trial. Thirty-one children completed an ADHD self-report scale each week, and comparisons were made with an ADHD questionnaire completed by adults (combined parent and teacher ratings). Children's and adults' ratings demonstrated good internal consistency, were significantly associated with the assessment of ADHD behaviours in the placebo condition and showed comparable responsiveness to stimulants at the group level. Furthermore, a large and significant correlation was detected between the two sets of informants' ratings of changes from placebo to both methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine high-dosage conditions, but not from placebo to low-dosage conditions. Agreement in the categorization of best stimulant condition for individual children was significant, but modest from a clinical perspective. The results indicate that children's ratings correspond adequately with adults' ratings, and thus appear to be a complementary outcome measure.     

Personality,Gender, Age and Logical Overlap in Multi‐Source Ratings

Variations in conceptual alignment between predictors and criteria have previously been studied in respect of criterion‐related validity, but not in settings of multi‐source rating. The differential conceptual alignment perspective was applied here to account for gender and age differences in the rating of behaviour. Personality traits of sales staff were found to predict logically overlapping customer‐contact behaviours, rated either by themselves or by their supervisor. Personality traits were also associated with employees' greater over‐rating of a behaviour relative to supervisors' judgements when personality–behaviour logical overlap was stronger. Significant differences in some work behaviours were observed between men and women and between older and younger employees, and those behavioural differences were accompanied by gender or age differences in personality traits that overlapped logically with the behaviour in question. Gender or age differences in ratings of specific behaviours are thus a reflection of gender or age differences in logically associated personality features.     

The Relationship between Creativity and Interpersonal Problem-Solving Skills in Adults

The present study evaluated whether creativity training and interpersonal problem-solving training reflect equivalent or complementary skills in adults. A sample of 74 undergraduates received interpersonal problem-solving training, creativity training, neither, or both. Dependent variables included measures of problem-solving and creative performance, and problem-solving and creative style. The results suggested that creativity and interpersonal problem-solving represent complementary skills, in that each training program specifically affected performance only on related measures of performance. A combination of programs affected both abilities. Creativity training and interpersonal problem-solving training are popular psychoeducational interventions that developed in isolation from each other. Originally thought of as a mysterious process, the empirical analysis of the creative act can be traced to the work of Wallas (1926). Under the assumption that creativity is a desirable trait, a number of scales and training programs have been developed to measure and enhance creative skills. Creativity training has been used primarily in educational and industrial settings (e.g., Basadur, 1981). The principles of interpersonal problem-solving training have emerged more recently, in the work of Spivack and Shure (1974; Spivack, Platt, & Shure, 1976) and D'Zurilla (D'Zurilla & Goldfried, 1971; D'Zurilla & Nezu, 1982). These authors conceptualized interpersonal problem-solving training in the context of behavior therapy, and for this reason the literature on interpersonal problem-solving is more closely associated with therapeutic settings. Creativity and interpersonal problem-solving skills can be conceptually distinguished on the basis of their goals. Interpersonal problem-solving refers to one's skill in determining the means by which to achieve a specific end or overcome a specific problem. Creativity, on the other hand, need not be oriented towards achieving specific ends; it is associated with the capacity for thinking in new and different ways. Koestler (1964) has even argued that these two goals can be inimical, at least in adults, in that the ability to combine information in unique ways may be. hindered when the individual focuses his or her thinking on a specific problem. At the same time, there are clear similarities between the two domains of skills. Guilford (1977) noted that “creative thinking produces novel outcomes, and problem-solving involves producing a new response to a new situation, which is a novel outcome” (p. 161). Edwards and Sproull (1984) saw creativity training as a method for improving the quality of solutions to problems and increasing personal effectiveness. They considered problem-solving synonymous with creativity, since both training programs offer a variety of techniques to help identify useful solutions to problems. Similarly, Noller (1979) and others (e.g., Isaksen, Dorval, & Treffinger, 1994) have discussed the concept of creative problem solving, which attempts to integrate principles in the literature on creativity and on problem solving. Isaksen et al. conceptualized the process of creative problem solving as consisting of six steps which fall within three stages. The first stage involves understanding the problem, consisting of three steps: mess-finding, data-finding, and problem-finding. This is followed by the stage of generating ideas, involving the idea- finding step. Finally, there is planning for action, which involves solution-finding and acceptance-finding. The most important difference between the various creativity training models and the interpersonal problem-solving model lies in their emphasis. Creativity training models focus primarily on enhancing skill at generating solutions. The interpersonal problem-solving model places equal emphasis on the implementation and evaluation of potential solutions. Although many authors have suggested that participation in creativity training will have positive effects on social and interpersonal functioning (e.g., Parnes, 1987), only two studies have been conducted examining the relationship between the interpersonal problem-solving training model and creativity skills. Miller, Serafica, and Clark (1989) and Shondrick, Serafica, Clark, and Miller (1992) found that interpersonal problem-solving training for children also enhanced creativity skills, and that children's creative abilities appear to be predictive of their interpersonal problem-solving skills. The question of whether creativity and interpersonal problem-solving are equivalent, complementary, or even inimical has not been adequately addressed in the existing literature. For one thing, there are no studies examining the relationship between the two constructs in adults. This is an important question, given Koestler's (1964) conclusion that they are potentially inconsistent among adults. Second, there are no studies at all regarding the impact of creativity training on problem-solving skills in adults. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether creativity and interpersonal problem-solving skills can be distinguished in an adult sample.     

Effects of training intensity on observers' ratings of anxiety, social skills, and alcohol-specific coping skills

Few studies have addressed the amount of training needed to obtain reliable ratings in behavioral observation data. The current study examined the effects of differing intensities of frame-of-reference (FOR) rater training on observers' ratings of anxiety, social skills, and alcohol-specific coping skills in community volunteers with and without social anxiety and alcohol use disorders. Interrater reliability was assessed by comparing three training conditions (no-training, moderate FOR, and intensive FOR) on discrepancies between raters'scores and the strength of association between raters'scoring patterns. The discrepancies between raters' scores were significantly larger in the control condition than in the intensive and moderate training conditions. Generally, small and nonsignificant differences were found between intensive and moderate training's discrepancy scores. Strength of association results showed significantly lower correlations in the control group compared to the intensive group. However, these correlational results showed less consistent differences between the moderate and other training conditions; differences when found were in the expected directions. Study findings suggest that differing training intensities can affect rating scores and that interrater reliability may be meaningfully assessed through multiple methods.     

Effects of a Communication Skills Training Programme on the Cognitions of Careers Guidance Students

Traditionally, communication skills training has focused principally on overt behaviours that are clearly identifiable. In recent years there has been an increasing awareness that cognitive processes can have considerable influence on behaviour. An attempt was made to establish whether changes in cognitions occurred as a result of a behaviourally-based communication skills training programme in which there had been no explicit attempt to bring about such cognitive changes. More specifically, the study examined whether such a programme resulted in changes in aspects of the personal construct space of students on a Diploma in Careers Guidance course. The results offered some support for the hypothesis that the programme produced changes in the students' personal construct space.     

An investigation into the validity of role play as a procedure for counsellor skill assessment

The aim of this study was to determine the validity of role play as a method for assessing counsellor skill. Video recordings of twelve counsellors' performance in both real and simulated counselling interactions were analysed. Skill assessment included molar ratings of eight skill areas and molecular measures of 28 behaviours. A comparison of counsellor performance between conditions indicated that there was little difference between the real and role-play situations. It is concluded that the modified extended role-play format employed in the present study might be a valid technique for assessment of counselling skills.     

Parents as Social Skills Trainers and Evaluators of Children

This study evaluated the effects of a 4-week group parent training program on parents' conceptual knowledge regarding social skills and perceptions of their children's social competence and psychosocial adjustment. It also examined the concordance prior to parent training between the parent measures and independent sociometric measures of children's acceptance by peers. Participants were 79 normal children enrolled in second grade and 45 parents. A group pretest-posttest design compared experimental and wait-list control parent groups before and after parent training for the experimental group. Parent training produced a significant effect in parents' conceptual knowledge and perceptions of children's social skills over time, and follow-up assessment 6 weeks later suggested maintenance of training effects. Psychosocial adjustment levels were within the normal range before and after treatment. Correlational analyses between parent measures and peer acceptance ratings indicated significant positive relationships between parents' and peers' perceptions on most measures. The findings support the potential value of parents as trainers and evaluators in programs to enhance children's social skills.     

Evaluation of a microskills programme with field-based counsellors: Effects on core attitudes and counselling skills

Two issues relevant to the role of microtraining in counsellor training are examined. Firstly, due to the increasing use of the microcounselling framework for training counsellors, either directly or indirectly, in the Rogerian attitudes, the effects of such a programme on counsellor attitudes was investigated. Secondly, although microskills training has been generally found to improve and increase trainee's helping skills usage and effectiveness, its effects on field-based counsellors have rarely been evalulated. Thus the second objective of the study was to examine this issue. The subjects were 12 counsellors from a number of counselling agencies. Six of these counsellors participated in a microcounselling programme which taught the skills of nonverbal communication, questioning, reflecting, listening, self-disclosure, reinforcement, opening and closing. The data base for the study consisted of videorecordings of each subject's participation in two extended interactions—one involving an individual discussing a real concern, and the other involving an individual discussing a simulated concern. Various measures of counsellor attitudes, effectiveness, skills, and actual behaviours were obtained. Comparison of the experimental and control groups indicated that the microcounselling programme had little effect on any of the aspects of counsellor performance examined. It is concluded that, although aspects of the design may have influenced the results, an integrated microcounselling approach may be more effective in developing attitudes. In addition, it appears that the characteristics of a professional population, such as counsellors, may differ from those of novices, such that problems in effecting change in skilled performance will occur with the former group.     

Maternal conceptions of the parenting role and mother–child collaborative behaviours in at-risk context

This study investigated to what extent mothers' conceptions of the parenting role drive mother–child collaborative behaviour as well as expert ratings on maternal practices. It also investigated whether there is any direct link between mother and child behaviours and expert ratings. Self-report measures for maternal conceptions and observed mother–child behaviours in the shopping task were obtained from a sample of 75 at-risk mothers with a child 8 to 12 years old. Social workers reported on mothers' negligent, coercive and resilient practices. Structural equation models showed that high power conception had a negative influence on mother and child's collaborative efforts, whereas reciprocity and parental support conceptions had a positive influence. Reciprocity, low power and parental support schemas consistently predicted experts' view on maternal practices. However, only mother's passivity predicted negatively expert ratings on resilient practice, indicating that expert views were mostly derived from mothers' reflections on their parenting role. Results suggested ways for improving experts' assessment of parental capacities and the use of intervention programmes to promote mothers' positive conceptions and actions.     

Development of a pleasure in parenting scale

Two major components of parenting have been identified: warmth and control. There has been a great deal of work on the measurement of control, but there are not many measures of parental warmth. As part of an attempt to develop better measures of warmth, we developed a scale measuring parents' pleasure in carrying out routine caretaking acts with their children. This measure was then related to other measures of positive support such as observation, observer ratings and questionnaires. As there is evidence in the literature that quality of the environment interacts with parenting, we related the measure to measures of stress, observer ratings of quality of the home, marital interaction and parental mood. Finally, we examined the relation of child variables (attachment classification, temperament rating and observed behaviours) to the parents' ratings of pleasure in the child.     

The influence of silence upon clinet-perceived rapport

The effect of frequency of instances, length and overall amount of silence was investigated during nine trainee counsellors' interviews with a Standardized Client. Data on client-perceived rapport were collected each minute, allowing for comparison of overall interviews as well as during all stages of the inteviews. Results indicated that there were significanly more instances of silence and significantly greater overall amounts of silence in interviews rated as having higher levels of client-perceived rapport. In addition, there were clearly different pattersns of usage of silence during moderate versus very high rapport minutes during interviews. Suggestions are made for the integration of these findings into counsellor training courses where trainees often report anxiety regarding the occurence of silence. Issues for further research are discussed.     

Evaluating the Coaching for Life Skills online training program: A randomised controlled trial

ObjectivesHigh school sport is considered a suitable context in which to develop life skills, yet most coaches are not equipped with the knowledge/tools needed to deliberately teach life skills. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Coaching for Life Skills online training program in helping coaches create environments conducive to the teaching of life skills.DesignRandomised controlled trial using a concurrent multiple baseline across groups design.MethodA total of 1,238 (58.8% male) Canadian high school coaches completed baseline testing examining coach-athlete relationship, coach interpersonal behaviours, and life skills teaching. Participants were then randomly assigned to an experimental, waitlist, or control group. A final sample of 285 (59.7% male) participants completed the trial (i.e., 36 experimental, 58 waitlist, and 191 control). Data were analysed using 3 x 3 repeated measures factorial analyses.ResultsAcross the three constructs assessed, there were no significant within-subject main effects for time, group, or for the interaction between time and group.ConclusionsAlthough the results were not statistically significant, visual analysis indicated positive directional changes for all three dependent variables, with increases in mean scores observed for both experimental and waitlist group participants following their completion of the Coaching for Life Skills online training program. Findings have implications for the design of online coach training programs aimed at helping coaches teach life skills through sport.     

Increased skills usage statistically mediates symptom reduction in self-guided internet-delivered cognitive–behavioural therapy for depression and anxiety: a randomised controlled trial

Cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for clinical and subclinical symptoms of depression and general anxiety, and increases life satisfaction. Patients’ usage of CBT skills is a core aspect of treatment but there is insufficient empirical evidence suggesting that skills usage behaviours are a mechanism of clinical change. This study investigated if an internet-delivered CBT (iCBT) intervention increased the frequency of CBT skills usage behaviours and if this statistically mediated reductions in symptoms and increased life satisfaction. A two-group randomised controlled trial was conducted comparing internet-delivered CBT (n = 65) with a waitlist control group (n = 75). Participants were individuals experiencing clinically significant symptoms of depression or general anxiety. Mixed-linear models analyses revealed that the treatment group reported a significantly higher frequency of skills usage, lower symptoms, and higher life satisfaction by the end of treatment compared with the control group. Results from bootstrapping mediation analyses revealed that the increased skills usage behaviours statistically mediated symptom reductions and increased life satisfaction. Although skills usage and symptom outcomes were assessed concurrently, these findings support the notion that iCBT increases the frequency of skills usage behaviours and suggest that this may be an important mechanism of change.     

Effective global management: Established constructs and novel contexts

While there is a growing literature on global managers, most studies in this area have not built upon the wealth of existing knowledge in the field of management development. This study examines if established theoretical constructs will account for managerial performance in complex global jobs and investigates the utility of each of these approaches. Boss performance ratings were correlated with manager's self-ratings on measures of personality, role skill, learning capability, business knowledge, and international experiences for 194 managers--half with global responsibilities and half with domestic responsibilities. Skill in the roles of leader and decision maker were significantly related to performance ratings for managers in high and low global complexity jobs. Learning skills, additional role skills, and international business knowledge were uniquely, albeit modestly, related to performance ratings for managers in globally complex jobs. A development framework is proposed that integrates the various theoretical constructs. Specifically, personality and international experience are considered as antecedent to skill rather than as predictors of global performance. Financial resources are not the problem. We have the money, products, and position to be a dominant global player. What we lack are the human resources. We just don't have enough people with the needed global leadership capabilities.     

Investigating driving instructors: The mediating roles of driving skills in the relationship between organizational safety strategies and driver behaviours

The aim of the present study is to investigate the mediating roles of driving skills in relationship between organizational safety strategies and driver behaviours among driving instructors. Driving skills consist of perceptual-motor skills and safety skills. Driver behaviours are investigated under four factors: violations, errors, lapses, and positive driver behaviours. Participants were 132 driving instructors (108 male and 24 female). In order to measure organizational safety strategies, Organizational Safety Strategies Scale (OSSS) was developed for driving schools. Results of the principal component analyses yielded one-factor solution for OSSS. In order to test the indirect effects of organizational safety strategies on driver behaviours through driving skills, multiple mediation analyses were conducted by entering age and annual mileage as the control variables. As organizational safety strategies were stronger, driving instructors had higher levels of perceptual-motor skills, which resulted in higher violations. On the other hand, as organizational safety strategies were stronger, driving instructors had higher levels of safety skills, which resulted in less violations and lapses. It can be inferred that; organizational stronger safety strategies might have negative influences on road safety through higher perceptual-motor skills; whereas there can be positive influences on road safety through higher safety skills. In addition, both skills are related to organizational safety strategies. Hence, driving schools should consider the asymmetric relationship between perceptual-motor skills and safety skills while improving their safety strategies to decrease violations and lapses. Organizations might also develop interventions to balance the stated skills to increase road safety.