Utilization deficiencies and transfer of strategies in preschoolers

Three studies examined whether strategy utilization deficiencies emerge during transfer to two tasks that differ superficially from the main task but have the same underlying structural logic. In Experiment 1, children aged 4, 4½, and 5 spontaneously produced selective attention strategies (or were prompted to do so) on a selective memory task. Although children of all ages transferred this strategy, recall declined on the transfer tasks, a pattern indicating a “transfer utilization deficiency.” This pattern appeared whether children were initially strategic or became strategic after prompts. Individual and trial-by-trial analyses showed asynchronies between changes in strategic behavior and recall (e.g., increased strategy production but decreased recall), which indicate a utilization deficiency. Experiment 2 demonstrated this pattern in spontaneously strategic 4-year-olds, and, by systematically varying task order, eliminated the possibility that transfer tasks were simply more difficult. Experiment 3 eliminated the role of boredom or fatigue for spontaneously strategic 4- and 5-year-olds. Transfer tasks may generate uncertainty about whether and how to apply a strategy, leading to resource-demanding self-monitoring and thus utilization deficiencies.     

Instructing Children to Use Memory Strategies: Evidence of Utilization Deficiencies in Memory Training Studies

Utilization deficiencies occur when children experience little or no benefit in task performance from the use of a strategy. Miller and Seier (1994) found evidence for utilization deficiencies in over 90% of memory studies that evaluated spontaneous strategy use in children. In this article, we extend the concept of utilization deficiency to training studies and review nearly 30 years of memory-training research. We identified three different types of utilization deficiencies and evaluated 39 different studies with 76 separate conditions for evidence of utilization deficiencies (increases in strategy use with little or no corresponding increase in memory), production deficiencies (increases inbothstrategy use and memory performance), and unsuccessful training (increases inneitherstrategy use nor memory performance). Over half of all training conditions showed evidence of at least one type of utilization deficiency. Utilization deficiencies were more common for younger than older children and were more likely to be found when training involved multiple procedures (e.g., verbal instruction, rationale) rather than a single procedure (instruction only). The findings are discussed in terms of the need to broaden the concept of utilization deficiency and to reevaluate the process of strategy development.     

Utilization deficiency and working memory capacity in adult memory performance: not just for children anymore

In acquiring mnemonic strategies, children may demonstrate a utilization deficiency phase in which they successfully execute a strategy but it does not facilitate memory performance. The present experiment suggests that utilization deficiencies are not a developmental phenomenon per se, but rather a byproduct of diminished working memory capacity for any reason (i.e., maturation, knowledge base, context, individual differences, etc.). Adults performing a series of study-test memory trials using nonsense words exhibited characteristics of utilization deficiencies, with increased strategy use not contributing to increased memory performance. Furthermore, adults’ working memory capacity modified the effect. Implications of these findings for developmental models of strategy acquisition are discussed.     

Effects of Practice Conditions and Supplemental Training Method on Cognitive Learning and Interpersonal Skill Generalization

Organizational expenditures for interpersonal-skills training have been rising. However, little is known about the translation of cognitive learning into skilled interpersonal-task performance, or about the mechanisms through which interpersonal skills in one domain generalize to other interpersonal tasks. This study used a 2 × 2 experimental design to examine the effectiveness of neutral versus stressful practice conditions and mastery-versus performance-oriented supplemental training for improving cognitive learning and interpersonal-skill transfer to a novel task. Participants who experienced stressful salary-negotiation practice conditions, followed by mastery-oriented supplemental training, showed greater skill transfer when performing a novel task (i.e., contract negotiations). Results showed that superior cognitive learning (i.e., recall, comprehension, and synthesis) and greater time on task were the mechanisms that supported interpersonal-skill transfer for trainees in the stressful practice/ mastery-oriented training condition when compared with the other experimental groups.     

Transfer, control, and automatic processing in a complex motor task: an examination of bounce juggling

The authors evaluated the hypothesis that controlled and automatic processes are opposite ends of a continuum of learning (e.g., R. M. Shiffrin & W. Schneider, 1977) vs. an alternative, concurrent emergence hypothesis (e.g., J. M. Bebko et al., 2003; G. Logan, 1989). The authors also measured potential positive transfer effects of learning from one motor task to another. Four experienced cascade jugglers and 5 novices learned to bounce juggle, practicing regularly for 5 weeks. The experienced jugglers showed positive transfer of learning, maintaining a lead of approximately 6-10 days over the novices, even as both groups automatized the new skill. Measures of automatic and controlled processing were positively correlated, indicating that those processes emerge concurrently. The authors present a model in which controlled and automatic processes emerge orthogonally.     

The Effects of Income and Skill Utilization on the Underemployed's Self‐Esteem,Mental Health,and Life Satisfaction

This longitudinal study examined the effects of underemployment on psychological well‐being (i.e., self‐esteem, mental health, and life satisfaction) using a sample of 99 unemployed and 153 reemployed individuals in South Korea. Underemployment was determined by wage and skill utilization. The results indicated that when underemployment was determined by wage change, the underemployed showed a more favorable mental health level and more life satisfaction than the unemployed. However, when determined by wage difference, the underemployed were similar to the unemployed. For skill utilization‐based underemployment, no difference was observed between the underemployed and the unemployed. The implications for future research are discussed.     

Imposed and chosen monitoring and blunting strategies in the dental setting: Effects, self-efficacy, and coping preference

Abstract In the present study, 94 dental patients received either monitoring (i.e., paying attention) or blunting (i.e., distraction) coping instructions during treatment. Half of the patients were given the possibility of choice, whereas the other half were offered one of both strategies without choice. A majority of the patients (n=61) indicated that the intervention had resulted in a decrease of their anxiety. Some indications were found for the monitoring strategy to be more effective than the blunting strategy. More specifically, monitoring strategy subjects reported that they had experienced less distress during treatment than blunting strategy subjects. In agreement with this finding, self-efficacy ratings of monitoring strategy subjects were higher than those of blunting strategy subjects. Possibility of choice and coping preference had no substantial influence on effectiveness of the interventions.     

What causes a memory strategy utilization deficiency?

In a “utilization deficiency,” a child spontaneously produces an appropriate strategy but receives little or no benefit from it for recall. Three studies provided evidence for two causes—children's failure to relate the task situation to their event knowledge or to link the strategy to a second strategy, in this case linking a selective attention strategy to a labeling strategy. In Study 1, 83 kindergartners and first graders were asked to remember the locations of 6 objects (e.g., animals) from a set of 12 objects (animals, household objects). The most efficient study strategy is a selective strategy—looking only at objects to be remembered. Selectivity predicted recall when the task was embedded in a story about a familiar context but not in the absence of this context. In Studies 2 and 3, instructing spontaneously selective preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children to label the relevant objects improved recall. We discuss the possible mechanisms underlying the influence of knowledge and strategy linking and the role of production, mediational, and utilization deficiencies in the development of strategies.     

Treatment, subtype, and word type effects in dyslexic children''s response to remediation

Children diagnosed as accuracy-disabled or rate-disabled readers (Lovett, 1984a, 1986, 1987) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions providing training in word recognition and decoding skills (DS), oral and written language (OWLS), or classroom survival skills (an alternative treatment control). The experimental treatment programs exerted a positive treatment effect on the word recognition performances of both groups, but treatment-specific changes in contextual reading and oral language skill were not observed. Pre- and post-treatment comparisons on an experimental word recognition task revealed a post-test advantage for DS-trained children of both subgroups. Accuracy-disabled readers demonstrated treatment-specific gains for both orthographically regular words (e.g., wade) and for exception words (e.g., broad), with their gains greater on exception words. Rate-disabled children demonstrated treatment-specific gains only for exception words, but exhibited these gains following both the DS and the OWLS treatments. Although both experimental treatment programs were associated with a positive outcome for the rate disabled subgroup, DS training was associated with relatively greater treatment gain. These data suggest that the critical variables underlying the effectiveness of the DS treatment include the specific lexical knowledge these disabled readers acquired, their greater reliance on an orthographic pattern procedure in word recognition, and/or the fact that newly acquired items were practiced to a point approximating automatization.     

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

The role of executive and phonological working memory resources in simple arithmetic was investigated in two experiments. Participants had to solve simple multiplication problems (e.g., 4 x 8; Experiment 1) or simple division problems (e.g., 42 / 7; Experiment 2) under no-load, phonological-load, and executive-load conditions. The choice/no-choice method was used to investigate strategy execution and strategy selection independently. Results for strategy execution showed that executive working memory resources were involved in direct memory retrieval of both multiplication and division facts. Executive working memory resources were also involved in the use of nonretrieval strategies. Phonological working memory resources, on the other hand, tended to be involved in nonretrieval strategies only. Results for strategy selection showed no effects of working memory load. Finally, correlation analyses showed that both strategy execution and strategy selection correlated with individual-difference variables, such as gender, math anxiety, associative strength, calculator use, arithmetic skill, and math experience.     

Job design,opportunities for skill utilization,and intrinsic job satisfaction

Arguably, job designs that provide for high levels of employee control also provide increased opportunities for the development and exercise of skill. Perceived skill utilization has consistently been found to be amongst the strongest predictors of job-related affective well-being, yet is frequently neglected in studies of work redesign. In this article, a theoretical framework linking the key job characteristics of perceived control and perceived cognitive demand to perceived skill utilization and intrinsic job satisfaction is presented. Results from one cross-sectional study and one longitudinal study are reported that support the mediational influence of perceived skill utilization on the perceived job control?–?job satisfaction relationship only. The relationship between perceived job demand and perceived skill utilization was mixed but no mediating effect was evident. It is argued that the level of both perceived demand and perceived control dictates the nature of the joint influence of both job characteristics on perceived skill utilization and work attitudes such as job satisfaction.     

TRANSFER TRAINING METHOD: ITS INFLUENCE ON SKILL GENERALIZATION, SKILL REPETITION, AND PERFORMANCE LEVEL

This study contrasted goal setting and self-management training designs for their effectiveness in facilitating transfer of training to a novel task. Behavioral measures of performance were used to assess transfer in terms of skill generalization, skill repetition and overall performance level. Skill generalization was more limited among the goal-setting trainees as compared to the self-management trainees. While goal-setting trainees generalized fewer skills to the novel task context, these skills tended to be used more repeatedly. In contrast, self-management trainees exhibited higher rates of skill generalization and higher overall performance levels on the transfer task, even after the effects of outcome goal level were controlled. Implications are discussed for future research on training transfer.     

The development and effectiveness of memory strategies in kindergarten and elementary school: Findings from the Würzburg and Göttingen longitudinal memory studies

This article reports findings of the Würzburg and Göttingen Longitudinal Memory Studies, which focused on children's verbal memory development. The studies started with 102 (German) kindergarten children in Würzburg and 86 second-graders in Göttingen who were tested on various memory measures, including sort-recall, memory capacity, metamemory, and verbal IQ. Assessments were repeated nine times, with adjacent measurement points separated by 6-month time intervals. The main goals of the studies concerned the assessment of utilization deficiencies during the course of strategy development, the analysis of factors influencing the effectiveness of strategy use, and the occurrence of multiple strategy use. Findings confirmed the outcome of previous longitudinal studies in that semantic organization strategies were not always accompanied by superior recall, but utilization deficiency problems were comparably rare. Strategy effectiveness was shown as being affected mainly by memory capacity and by children's tendency to engage in multiple strategy use. However, children did not start to apply multiple strategies effectively until the end of Grade 2.     

Political Skill and Work Attitudes: A Comparison of Multiple Social Effectiveness Constructs

In the realm of social effectiveness constructs, political skill has seen increased attention as a predictor of work performance and attitudes. However, the extent that political skill is distinct from related variables in this area remains an important question. The current study examined the proportion of variance explained by political skill in job satisfaction and turnover intentions above and beyond other social effectiveness variables (i.e., social intelligence, emotional intelligence, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). Results indicated that political skill was the strongest predictor of these outcomes, and explained a significant proportion of variance in them, beyond the other four social effectiveness constructs.     

Is information reduction an item-specific or an item-general process?

An important aspect of cognitive skill acquisition is the ability, developed through task practice, to ignore task-irrelevant information (i.e., information reduction, Haider & Frensch, 1996 1996). By this account, practice not only affects how information is processed, but also what information is processed. Performance increases because, with practice, cognitive resources are used more and more efficiently as irrelevant aspects of the task are discarded from processing. Human–machine interaction, educational and sports psychology are just some contexts where behaviour consistent with the notion of information reduction has been reported. Information reduction applies in situations in which tasks contain both relevant and irrelevant information, and denotes a change from a processing-all-elements-of-a-task strategy to a processing-relevant-elements-only strategy. In two experiments, we tested empirically if information reduction is an item-specific or an item-general process by manipulating the frequency with which items were repeated during task practice. Participants verified alphanumeric strings containing task-relevant and task-irrelevant information. As the latter was not mentioned in the instructions, information reduction was studied in an incidental learning situation. We found that string-specific repetition frequency was related to the amount of time participants spent processing relevant portions of the stimuli, but was not related to the time spent processing the irrelevant portions. Thus, repetition frequency did not affect the degree of information reduction. The conclusion that information reduction is an item-general phenomenon was further supported by frequency-independent high rates of transfer errors when, late in practice, the former regularity of an irrelevant and relevant string-part no longer applied. The findings are incompatible with most data-driven theories of skill acquisition that attribute strategy changes during task practice exclusively to automatically occurring learning mechanisms. The results are compatible with theories that assume a top-down influence on skill acquisition.     

Coping, competence, and aggression prevention: Part 1. Developmental model

According to coping-competence theory, current challenge encounters determine future life outcomes and competence. This theory provides a testable causal model of the development of persistent aggression. The model suggests that protective circumstances enable resilient youth to cope prosocially (helping self without harming others) even with uncontrollable challenges. Unprepared for language-based prosocial coping, high-risk youths' antisocial coping yields adverse life outcomes (e.g., school expulsion, teen pregnancy, police arrest). Each adverse outcome increases future antisocial coping, threatens future competence (i.e., self-definition, social reputation, dominant coping strategy), and aggravates status on risk-protection variables (i.e., parent warmth and skill, child temperament and intelligence). The same structural model may apply across the lifespan with changes in indicators and weighting of constructs during key developmental transitions. Part 2 presents the model's prevention implications.     

Young children's organizational strategies on a same-different task: A microgenetic study and a training study.

This study was designed to explore young children's strategy development using a new kind of "same-different" task that minimized memory demands. Four-year-old children were asked to judge whether 2 sets of 7 toys were the same or different. Sets were identical or differed by one toy, with one set presented on a table and the other in a linen bag. Children's spontaneous behavior was highly strategic, and over trials it developed differently for "same" and "different" trials. Most children who did not spontaneously use the most effective strategy, that is, matching, could be trained to do so and were able to transfer this strategy to new materials. Results concerning production and utilization deficiencies are discussed in relation to task characteristics, trial type (same or different), and findings from prior research.     

Many roads lead to Rome: Self‐regulatory strategies and their effects on self‐control

In a self‐control conflict, people face a dilemma between a current goal (e.g., to exercise regularly) and competing impulses, habits, or desires (e.g., to stay on the couch and continue watching TV). To resolve such conflicts in favor of their goals, individuals may capitalize on a variety of self‐regulatory strategies. In this article, we review recent research on the self‐regulatory strategies people use in their daily lives, research on the effectiveness of these strategies, and research on the consequences of self‐regulatory strategy use on well‐being. We furthermore take both an individual‐differences and a situational perspective by linking strategy use to individual differences between people (e.g., in self‐control) and by emphasizing that strategy effectiveness likely depends on situational context (e.g., on current demands). Finally, we introduce ideas and potential future research questions revolving around the role of individual differences in regulatory flexibility (including context‐sensitivity) for determining a person's self‐regulatory success.     

虚拟团队学习效能研究:社会认知因素的影响

本研究采用现场研究的方法,对21个虚拟团队学习的效能进行了实证研究。研究对社会认知因素中的效能感和目标取向对虚拟团队学习效能(技能改变、工作任务和团队健康水平)的影响进行了研究,并探讨了对虚拟团队的态度在中间所起的作用。研究发现,虚拟团队效能感和学习取向对虚拟团队的学习效能产生作用,而对虚拟团队学习的态度、团队信任对虚拟团队学习的效能起着中介或直接的作用。     

Predicting expatriate effectiveness: The role of personality,cross‐cultural adjustment,and organizational support

The interest in expatriate effectiveness has grown remarkably as a consequence of globalization and the possibility of failure in international assignments. This study has tested a comprehensive model of expatriate effectiveness in a sample of 108 Spanish expatriate managers. They responded to a survey which included a set of variables, including personality, adjustment, language skill, cultural distance, organizational support, and expatriate effectiveness (i.e., job performance, intentions of early return, and manager efficacy perceived by others). The results showed that cultural distance and cross‐cultural adjustment were the immediate predictors of expatriate effectiveness and that achievement, sociability, organizational support, and language skills predicted cross‐cultural adjustment and cultural distance. The results showed a good fit to the hypothesized model (GFI = .973; CFI =.975; RMSEA = .056; SRMR = .053). Finally, we comment on the implications of the findings for the research and practice of selection in international assignments.