Anticipatory Governance: Bioethical Expertise for Human/Animal Chimeras

The pedigree chart is a cornerstone technology for producing bodies and value in livestock pure breeding. It organizes a cluster of processes, technologies, and discourses gathered under the rubric ‘pedigree practices’. Angus breeders commonly use artificial insemination to import performance ‘genetics’ into their herds, using the ‘expected progeny differences’ predicted by massive pedigree databases that now also contain phenotype data reported by cattle growers. Discourses of biological inheritance, good breeding, and pedigrees arose in the eighteenth century, concomitant with a fascination with races, species, and other biological kinds. A case study from Angus cattle breeding illustrates pedigree practices and the bodies made through them, showing how information and computing technologies, assisted reproductive technologies, and discourses of good breeding, purity, health, and disease leveraged a single bull and the two genetic diseases he carried into the pedigrees of up to 10% of the Angus herd. Technologies now widely used in human reproductive medicine were developed for use in livestock animals, especially cattle, extending a long relationship between cows and humans. While the development of these pedigree practices represents increased control over animal reproduction and bodies, it has also been instrumental in rendering all animal bodies, including human bodies, not only more technically but also more rhetorically available for reproductive interventions. These interventions may amplify anxieties about health, species, breed, and kin while also providing opportunities for contesting the boundaries of these nature–cultural categories.     

Form and Variability During Sit-to-Stand Transitions: Children Versus Adults

In performing the sit-to-stand transition, young children (6- to 7-year-olds) were expected to display a movement form similar to that of adults. However, movement consistency was predicted to be poorer in children than in adults because they lack refinement of motor control processes. Kinematic analysis of 10 repetitions of the sit-to-stand movement was carried out for 6 typically developing children and 6 adults. Supporting the authors' prediction of comparable form, no differences were evident between age groups for sequence of joint onsets, proportional duration of segmental motion, or in angle-angle plots of displacement at 2 segments. In contrast, within-participant variability was found to be higher for children: Coefficients of variation for most kinematic measures were twice those seen for adults. The authors interpret the children's lack of movement consistency as a reflection of inadequate stabilization of an internal model of intersegmental dynamics. Whereas adults have attained a skill level associated with refinement of that model, children have not. Children have an additional control problem because changes in body morphology throughout childhood require ongoing updating of the internal model that controls intrinsic dynamics.     

Dogs in Animal Shelters: Problems, Suggestions, and Needed Expertise

Because of very real practical constraints, conditions in animal shelters are often reminiscent of those in early primate deprivation studies. Dogs are frequently surrendered to shelters because of behavior problems, and aspects of the shelter environment may induce anomalous behavior, increasing the chances that adopted dogs will be returned to the shelters. Comparative psychologists, psychobiologists, and other behavioral scientists possess the knowledge and techniques to help shelters intervene in this cycle. Experience suggests human interaction and the application of basic conditioning procedures can reduce the impact of the shelter environment, and ease the transition into the adoptive home. A program developed to meet these goals is described. Shelters can provide opportunities both for the training of students in animal-related exercises and for limited applied research. Behavioral scientists stand in a unique position to help transform conditions in animal shelters to the benefit of all involved.     

Consistently Inconsistent Working Memory Performance Among Children with ADHD: Evidence of Response Accuracy Variability (RAV)

Heterogeneity in cognitive performance, once regarded as noise, is now considered a causal mechanism or core deficit of ADHD and its related symptoms in most etiological models of the disorder. Previous research on cognitive performance variability has documented increased heterogeneity in response latencies using reaction time data. In contrast, variability in response accuracy remains understudied. The present study is the first to examine Response Accuracy Variability (RAV) among children with ADHD. Children with ADHD (N?=?54) and typically developing children (N?=?50) completed phonological working memory tasks with four set size conditions. RAV was calculated for each set size using the adjusted coefficient of variation (ζ). Results from a mixed model ANOVA indicated that children with ADHD evinced significantly greater variation in working memory performance relative to typically developing children when engaged in tasks within their cognitive capacity (i.e., set sizes 3 and 4), whereas all children exhibit similar, high levels of variability on tasks that exceeded their cognitive capacity (i.e., set sizes 5 and 6). Findings are aligned with the extant literature in documenting consistently inconsistent cognitive performance among children ADHD.

     

指示性手势：来自动物交流系统的证据

指示性手势通常被定义为指明空间中某个物体或处所的手部动作, 但其是否为人类交流系统所独有, 心理学界做了大量研究。通过回顾这一领域的主要理论以及相关争论, 结果发现：动物既可能具有使用指示性手势的能力, 也可以解读手势背后的社会认知意图。未来研究在克服样本数量不一致、实验任务笼统以及研究方法单一等不足的基础上, 还应当注意心理学、语言学以及生物学等多学科的交汇融合。     

Bright Cars and Outsiders: Evidence of Asymmetric Estimates in Vehicular Speeds

Using an improved analysis, this paper provides new evidence regarding the influence of vehicle attributes on the estimation of vehicular speed by an observer. An analysis of speeding records indicates that brightly colored vehicles systematically receive citations for relatively lower speeds. Findings also indicate that trucks were cited for significantly higher speeds than were cars. The findings clarify earlier conflicts in the literature as to whether vehicular characteristics give an impression of higher speed. As an additional topic of investigation, evidence is provided that outsiders, those not living in the jurisdiction, received citations for significantly lower speeds.     

Typical Performance,Maximal Performance,and Performance Variability: Expanding Our Understanding of How Organizations Value Performance

Existing research has distinguished between typical and maximal performance. Performance variability is another potentially important aspect of performance that has been infrequently studied. Using longitudinal data from the National Basketball Association (N = 269), we address this gap by examining how these three conceptualizations of performance are related to how organizations compensate their employees. Results indicate that each of these performance aspects is bivariately related to compensation levels, accounting for between 32% and 58% of the variance in compensation. In addition, typical performance and performance variability incrementally predicts compensation levels, although maximal performance does not. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Repression, Dissociation, and the Recovered Memory Debate: Constructing Scientific Evidence and Expertise

We examine arguments about the scientific status of repression and dissociation in the written discourse of academic social scientists and clinicians on the controversial issue of recovered memories of child sexual abuse. The rhetorical deployment of theories, methods, and evidence by representatives of both camps regarding the authenticity of recovered memories, repression, and dissociation is compared. The ways in which supporters and sceptics bolster claims for their own expertise while undermining that of opponents are also explored. Supporters of recovered memory emphasise the pragmatic relevance of theories and clinical evidence, while sceptics draw rhetorically on positivist standards of scientific rigour and reliability to undermine claims of recovered memory. The themes of relevance and reliability are then related to discussions of recent legal changes in the United States on the admissibility of expert opinion evidence in recovered memory cases.     

Word-List-Learning Performance in Younger and Older Adults: Intra-Individual Performance Variability and False Memory

ABSTRACT

We investigated the word-list-learning performance of younger and older adults over 4 consecutive days at different times of day to study age-related differences in consistency of performance over time and the influence of circadian variation on performance. Eighteen younger (M age, 23.4 years) and 18 older (M age, 73.3 years) men and women participated. The start time of testing alternated between morning and early evening across the 4 days of testing. On each test day, participants learned a different list of 15 unrelated words over four learning trials. As expected, younger adults performed better than older adults on immediate recall, delayed recall, and recognition. Contrary to our expectations, time of day did not significantly influence recall or recognition performance in either the older or younger adults. Older adults did show a greater incidence of false memory (i.e., previously learned list intrusions in free recall and false alarms in recognition) than younger adults. Older adults also exhibited greater intra-individual performance variability on the measures of false memory across test days. This variability was not related to circadian variation. False memory and variability of performance have both been linked to frontal systems dysfunction. The findings presented here are consistent with the notion that changes in cognition with aging in part reflect age-related decline in frontal lobe function.     

True Overconfidence in Interval Estimates: Evidence Based on a New Measure of Miscalibration

Overconfidence is often regarded as one of the most prevalent judgment biases. Several studies show that overconfidence can lead to suboptimal decisions of investors, managers, or politicians. Recent research, however, questions whether overconfidence should be regarded as a bias and shows that standard “overconfidence” findings can easily be explained by different degrees of knowledge of agents plus a random error in predictions. We contribute to the current literature and ongoing research by extensively analyzing interval estimates for knowledge questions, for real financial time series, and for artificially generated charts. We thereby suggest a new method to measure overconfidence in interval estimates, which is based on the implied probability mass behind a stated prediction interval. We document overconfidence patterns, which are difficult to reconcile with rationality of agents and which cannot be explained by differences in knowledge as differences in knowledge do not exist in our task. Furthermore, we show that overconfidence measures are reliable in the sense that there exist stable individual differences in the degree of overconfidence in interval estimates, thereby testing an important assumption of behavioral economics and behavioral finance models: stable individual differences in the degree of overconfidence across people. We do this in a “field experiment,” for different levels of expertise of subjects (students on the one hand and professional traders and investment bankers on the other hand), over time, by using different miscalibration metrics, and for tasks that avoid common weaknesses such as a non‐representative selection of trick questions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variability in Parameter Estimates and Model Fit Across Repeated Allocations of Items to Parcels

Different random or purposive allocations of items to parcels within a single sample are thought not to alter structural parameter estimates as long as items are unidimensional and congeneric. If, additionally, numbers of items per parcel and parcels per factor are held fixed across allocations, different allocations of items to parcels within a single sample are thought not to meaningfully alter model fit—at least when items are normally distributed. We show analytically that, although these statements hold in the population, they do not necessarily hold in the sample. We show via a simulation that, even under these conservative conditions, the magnitude of within-sample item-to-parcel-allocation variability in structural parameter estimates and model fit can alter substantive conclusions when sampling error is high (e.g., low N, low item communalities, few items per few parcels). We supply a software tool that facilitates reporting and ameliorating the consequences of item-to-parcel-allocation variability. The tool's utility is demonstrated on an empirical example involving the Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness (NEO) Personality Inventory and the Computer Assisted Panel Study data set.     

The Variability of Criterion‐Related Validity Estimates Among Interviewers and Interview Panels

The authors examined differences in criterion‐related validity estimates among ratings from individual interviewers and interview panels within a structured interview. Senior non‐commissioned officers (NCOs) in the U.S. Army (N=64) conducted panel interviews with 944 junior NCOs during a concurrent validation project. Analysis of the data revealed considerable variation in interviewer validity coefficients in relation to multiple performance criteria. Results also indicated the importance of adopting a multivariate perspective when evaluating interviewer validity differences in that the amount of variation in validity coefficients differed both by interview dimension and criterion. A similar pattern of findings emerged when analyses were performed on ratings averaged within interview panel. Nonetheless, when meta‐analysis was used to estimate the amount of true variance in interviewer‐ and panel‐level validity coefficients, most or all of the variance for some interview‐criterion combinations appeared to be due to statistical artifacts.     

Workload Variability and Social Support: Effects on Stress and Performance

The current study investigated the effect of workload variability on performance and stress, as well as the role of social support as a potential intervention. Based on previous research it was predicted that a shift in workload from either high to low or low to high would lower performance and increase stress, while the provision of social support would result in higher performance and lower stress. Results revealed significant decrements in performance following workload shifts, though no increase in stress was perceived. Performance in both workload conditions significantly, but inconsistently, increased following the provision of social support and stress significantly decreased following the shift from high to low workload. Implications and future research steps are discussed further.     

Workload Variability and Social Support: Effects on Stress and Performance

The current study investigated the effect of workload variability on performance and stress, as well as the role of social support as a potential intervention. Based on previous research it was predicted that a shift in workload from either high to low or low to high would lower performance and increase stress, while the provision of social support would result in higher performance and lower stress. Results revealed significant decrements in performance following workload shifts, though no increase in stress was perceived. Performance in both workload conditions significantly, but inconsistently, increased following the provision of social support and stress significantly decreased following the shift from high to low workload. Implications and future research steps are discussed further.     

To Seek or Not to Seek: The Relationship Between Help Seeking and Job Performance Evaluations as Moderated by Task-Relevant Expertise

The present study explored the relationship between level of employees' help-seeking behavior and their overall job evaluations. It was hypothesized that employees would seek more help from others whom they perceive as more knowledgeable than they are and that they would seek more help from superiors than from coworkers. Regarding the link between amount of help seeking and performance evaluations, it was predicted that the relationship between amount of help seeking and evaluations of overall job performance are curvilinear and affected by the perceived expertise of the helper. Study participants were employees of a chemical plant, and they reported on the amount of help seeking that they engaged in with superiors and coworkers. Data on the perceived expertise of the help seeker and the help giver in any helping interaction were collected. Most recent job performance evaluations as reported by participants' superiors served as a measure of job performance. The analyses indicate that in line with prediction, the relationships between help seeking and performance evaluations were curvilinear. These relationships were moderated by the help seeker's relative task-relevant expertise. The theoretical implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Running on Empty: The Effects of Aggregate Travel Stress on Team Performance

Purpose

In this study, we explore the effects of travel on performance at the team level using conservation of resources (COR) theory as an explanatory mechanism. We investigate the effects of aggregate travel stress, which we define as the accumulated strain experienced by a team when traveling, on key components of team functioning and performance including team task performance, team concentration level, and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB).

Design/Methodology/Approach

We analyze 3054 games played in the National Football League across six seasons using multilevel structural equation modeling. Replicating our findings, we also analyzed an additional 11,802 games played in the National Basketball Association across five seasons.

Findings

Aggregate travel stress, as a latent construct, negatively impacts team task performance and team concentration level. Team concentration partially mediates the relationship between aggregate travel stress and CWB.

Implications

Findings suggest that travel has a deleterious effect on various forms of team functioning and performance. As a result, organizations and leaders need to be aware of the potential side effects of travel, and researchers need to further incorporate travel into models and examinations of workplace stress.

Originality/Value

This is the first study to provide a theoretically driven investigation of the effects of business travel on team outcomes and to apply COR theory to team-level phenomena. Results put forth offer a more nuanced understanding of the effects of travel as well as open up new avenues of exploration for COR theory.

     

Variability in the Functions of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: Evidence From Three Real-Time Monitoring Studies

Despite functional models of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) helping to explain why people engage in this perplexing behavior, we still lack an understanding of some of the key properties of NSSI functions. Here, we address three unanswered questions about NSSI functions: how much do distinct NSSI functions (1) vary between people over time, (2) vary within people over time, and (3) simultaneously co-occur over time? Data were drawn from three ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies of self-injurious adult psychiatric outpatients (n = 7), community-based adolescents (n = 15), and community-based adults (n = 9). Across the three studies, there was a total of 271 NSSI episodes (all with corresponding functions captured by EMA). The vast majority (27 of 31; 87%) of participants exhibited unique patterns of NSSI functions during the monitoring periods, indicating high variability between people. The vast majority (26 of 31; 84%) of participants also showed changes in NSSI functions over time, indicating high variability within people. Although it was most common for only one function to be reported for a given NSSI episode, participants endorsed more than one function for 22% to 43% of NSSI episodes, indicating that different functions did simultaneously co-occur. These results underscore that reinforcement processes for NSSI differ from person-to-person, and are both time-varying and multifaceted, which has implications for personalized assessment and treatment of this clinical phenomenon.     

Sex Differences in Variability in Vocational Interests: Evidence from Two Large Samples

Greater male variability has been established in cognitive abilities and physical attributes. This study investigated sex differences in variability in vocational interests with two large samples (N > 40 000 and N > 70 000). The results show that although men varied more in Realistic and Enterprising interests, women varied more in Artistic and Conventional interests. These differences in variability had considerable influence on the female–male tail ratios in vocational interests that have been found to contribute to reported gender disparities in certain fields of work and academic disciplines. Moreover, differences in means and variability interacted non‐linearly in shaping tail‐ratio imbalances. An age‐specific analysis additionally revealed that differences in variability diminished with age: Older samples showed smaller differences in variance in Realistic, Artistic, and Social interests than younger samples. Thus, I found no evidence that greater male variability applies for vocational interests in general. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology