Understanding subgroup differences with general mental ability tests in employment selection: Exploring socio-cultural factors across inter-generational groups

In employment selection, general mental ability (GMA) tests predict training and job performance but also lead to subgroup differences which in turn can produce adverse impact against minority groups. Although researchers have explored genetic, developmental, and environmental explanations for ethnic group differences, few studies have explored socio-cultural factors comparing immigrant and non-immigrant job applicants. Given that many ethnic job applicants may also be immigrants, understanding these factors can provide insight into GMA test score differences. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of individual and socio-cultural factors on GMA test scores with immigrant and non-immigrant bus driver applicants. This is the first study of its kind to our knowledge that has attempted to disentangle the effects of socio-cultural factors from race/ethnicity in the study of subgroup differences. Incorporating these variables between non-visible minority and minority groups accounted for considerable variance in GMA test scores across groups. The implications of focusing on socio-cultural variables to enhance our understanding of subgroup differences are discussed. Our results specifically suggest that practitioners attend to the issue of the intersecting grounds of potential discrimination when using GMA tests in personnel selection.     

从动物权利的讨论看道德的交互性本质

道德的交互性是人类道德生活的基本特征之一。有关动物权利的讨论能为我们清楚地揭示出这一点。它主要指向收益和负担之间的某种程度的均衡,对人类的道德实践提出了真正的挑战。     

Should research experience be used for selection into graduate school: A discussion and meta‐analytic synthesis of the available evidence

Prior research experience is widely considered by graduate school admissions committees in the United States of America. Here, we use meta‐analytic methods and data from 18 unique samples and a total sample size of 3,525 students to shed light on the validity of prior research experience as a predictor of graduate school performance. Prior research experience was largely unrelated to academic performance (ρ = .01, k = 8, N = 1,419), degree attainment (ρ = .05, k = 3, N = 140), professional/practice performance (ρ = .06, k = 4, N = 1,120), and publication performance (ρ = .11, k = 7, N = 1,094). We also discuss whether consideration of prior research experience may unfairly disadvantage the students with lower levels of SES, students with childcare or eldercare responsibilities, and students from institutions at which research opportunities are limited.     

Decreasing overt discrimination increases covert discrimination: Adverse effects of equal opportunities policies

Building on the moral licensing literature, this paper examines whether highlighting the successful implementation of an equal opportunities policy in a company leads to covert forms of discrimination in hiring decisions (i.e., expressing a preference for a white candidate over an equally qualified black/Moroccan candidate in an ambiguous context). Furthermore, moral self‐image is indirectly tested as a possible underlying mechanism. Two scenario studies first revealed that covert discrimination is more likely after highlighting a successful implementation of an equal opportunities policy in the company (study 1) and that elevated levels of moral self‐image are related to covert discrimination (study 2). Subsequently, a field study revealed that the presence of successful equal opportunities policies positively related to employees’ moral self‐image (study 3).     

从数量表征到数表征：具身认知视角下的人类数能力获得

数能力是数学认知的基本成分。与动物所具有的基本数能力不同,人类不仅具备数量表征能力,更重要的是还拥有对数概念进行表征的数表征能力。虽然具身认知与离身认知都对数概念的表征问题进行了解释,但二者却存在明显理论分歧。具身认知观点主要从具身数量表征和数能力发展的具身认知机制两方面为人类独特数能力的获得提供了理论支撑及实证证据。这启示人们需要重视具身学习在数能力形成实践中的关键作用,重视具身数量表征在数学教学中的作用,仍需进一步揭示其内在的心理和神经基础。     

Cognitive ability in virtual reality: Validity evidence for VR game‐based assessments

Virtual reality (VR) technology may provide unique benefits for assessing individual characteristics, in contrast with traditional assessments. This study examined validity evidence for the use of VR game (VRG) scores to indicate specific cognitive abilities. Participants completed three VRGs, three computer‐based assessments (CBAs), and additional scales. To evaluate convergent validity, VRG scores were compared with CBA scores. For divergent validity, VRG scores were compared with five factors of personality based on the Five Factor Model. For criterion‐related validity, VRG scores were compared with academic achievement (i.e., grade point average). Findings generally provided support that the VRG scores are related to certain spatial reasoning subdimensions of cognitive ability. However, further research is needed to examine the qualities of VRGs as assessment tools.     

The effects of schema on recognition memories and subjective experiences for actions and objects

We examined how the schema affects recognition memories and subjective experiences for actions and objects. First, participants watched consecutive slides that described a man in the kitchen. In the slides, the man performed schema‐consistent actions and schema‐inconsistent actions, and schema‐consistent objects and schema‐inconsistent objects were left in the kitchen space. After watching the slides, participants completed a recognition test, a remember/know test, and a Perception/Thought/Emotion/Context questionnaire. For objects, the discrimination between targets and distracters was more accurate for schema‐inconsistent items than for schema‐consistent items, owing to perceptual, thought, and emotional recollections for schema‐inconsistent object targets. For actions, schema‐consistent targets were more frequently recognized than schema‐inconsistent targets, with more remember judgments based on perceptual and contextual recollections. While item‐specific information of schema‐inconsistent targets could be elaborated for objects, the perceptual details and the contextual relationship of schema‐consistent targets could be elaborated for actions. We also found less false recognitions for schema‐consistent action distracters than for schema‐consistent object distracters. The retrieval of the perceptual details of schema‐consistent action targets could prevent false recognitions for schema‐consistent action distracters.     

Lateralization of egocentric and allocentric spatial processing after parietal brain lesions

The purpose of this paper was to verify whether left and right parietal brain lesions may selectively impair egocentric and allocentric processing of spatial information in near/far spaces. Two Right-Brain-Damaged (RBD), 2 Left-Brain-Damaged (LBD) patients (not affected by neglect or language disturbances) and eight normal controls were submitted to the Ego-Allo Task requiring distance judgments computed according to egocentric or allocentric frames of reference in near/far spaces. Subjects also completed a general neuropsychological assessment and the following visuospatial tasks: reproduction of the Rey-Osterreith figure, line length judgement, point position identification, mental rotation, mental construction, line length memory, line length inference, Corsi block-tapping task. LBD patients presented difficulties in both egocentric and allocentric processing, whereas RBD patients dropped in egocentric but not in allocentric judgements, and in near but not far space. Further, RBD patients dropped in perceptually comparing linear distances, whereas LBD patients failed in memory for distances. The overall pattern of results suggests that the right hemisphere is specialized in processing metric information according to egocentric frames of reference. The data are interpreted according to a theoretical model that highlights the close link between egocentric processing and perceptual control of action.     

The Position of Metapsychology in the Formation of Psychoanalytic Knowledge and the Concept of “I” (Ego)

Psychoanalysis is unique in that competence in the field can be achieved only through applying the method to oneself. Different psychoanalytic schools differ in their understanding of the unconscious, about how to approach it, or how to define the specificity of the psychoanalytic interaction. Consequently, there are differences in the criteria for the definition of the ‘good-enough analysis’. There are many different opinions about how to select candidates, organise the curriculum and length of training. To define psychoanalytic talent is difficult; the uncertainty in the definition of criteria to use for selection is great; the problematic overlap between personal analysis and training is constantly present; to achieve conditions in which learning and creativity can develop is complicated by trainee, supervisor and their relationship to the Institute. Confrontations about training are often heated and divergent, as well as repetitive. Systematic studies about psychoanalytic education are very few. After a short discussion of the different concerns about selection, personal versus training analysis and the ambiguities of the supervisory situation, the author gives a review of three studies on how psychoanalytic education—as viewed by trainers and trainees—is conducted and experienced at the Swedish Psychoanalytic Institute. Training is felt to be well grounded in theory and tradition; nonetheless most do not have a sufficiently clear picture of training as a whole. Both candidates and trainers see the development of a psychoanalytic identity as the goal of training, where the competencies to be acquired are equated with important personality qualities. The candidates have a feeling of “being chosen"; they “wish to belong to a group who share an interest and fascination for psychoanalytic thinking and theory". All praise the warm and open atmosphere, and the mutual and continuous evaluations and the deep involvement of all. The surge to be rooted in an overreaching psychoanalytic ethic, the culture of gratitude within the Institute and the devotion to the task to train psychoanalytic clinicians for the future may preserve an idealised image of psychoanalysis and the fantasy that psychoanalysts are exceptional persons and give a mystifying colour to the psychoanalytic profession. This might also stand in the way of a more radical change in the traditions of training—according to the rather drastically changing climate in which psychoanalysts of the future will have to work.     

Getting social in selection: How social networking website content is perceived and used in hiring

The use of social networking websites (SNWs) during employee selection is gaining popularity in organizations. Using a foundation that integrates identity and situational strength theories, we develop a conceptual framework that differentiates SNW information from information gathered through traditional selection procedures, and distinguishes between SNW types. Research questions and hypotheses are tested using a survey of 291 hiring professionals. Results indicate that SNW content is considered useful and is regularly utilized during hiring. Some SNW content is viewed positively (e.g., information supporting qualifications), while other information leads to negative perceptions (e.g., discriminatory comments). Finally, results support a differentiation between personal and professional SNW, as the kind of information sought and the effectiveness of assessing various work‐related constructs differs between these SNW categories.     

Latina Re-Visionings of Participatory Health Promotion Practice: Cultural and Ecosystemic Perspectives Linking Personal and Social Change

This article presents Latina re-visionings of ecosystemic and participatory health promotion practice linking personal and social change in gender, culture, and politics of shared development. The authors, a Cuban-American clinical psychologist and a Chicana/Italian-American PhD student, apply transnational and multiracial frameworks informing strengths-based, collaborative practice connecting women's lived experiences of struggle and striving with resources promoting wellness and equity. We describe how massive workplace raids in New Bedford, MA required re-examining sociopolitical implications of our practice, expanding collaborations with Community-Based Organizations while making connections between politics of every day life, culturally meaningful gender justice, and practice of social change.     

The schema provokes a disparity of false recollection between actions and objects in an everyday scene

We explored the effect of the schema on recognition memories and subjective experiences for actions and objects in an everyday scene. At first, participants watched slides of a man cooking in a kitchen. The man performed schema‐consistent actions, and schema‐consistent objects were left. After watching the slides, participants completed a recognition test, a remember/know test, and a Perception/Thought/Emotion/Context questionnaire. We confirmed three main results. First, participants made more false recognitions for schema‐consistent distracters than for schema‐inconsistent distracters with more “remember” judgments accompanied by perceptual, thought, and contextual details, and with more “know” judgments. Second, participants made more false recognitions for schema‐consistent object distracters than for schema‐consistent action distracters. Third, participants more frequently recognized schema‐consistent action targets than schema‐consistent object targets with more “remember” judgments. Both action memory and object memory were reconstructed under the schema, provoking false recognitions for schema‐consistent distracters. However, the memories of schema‐consistent action targets were so recollective that they could prevent false recognitions for schema‐consistent action distracters.     

The pay premium for high-potential women: A constructive replication and refinement

In this constructive replication, we revisit a provocative study by Leslie, Manchester, and Dahm (2017). They found that gender and being designated a high-potential employee interacted in accounting for pay and that this resulted in a reversal in the commonly observed gender pay gap favoring men. Our primary aim was to examine important boundary conditions associated with their work by (a) conducting a study using a sample that would better generalize across industries and to individuals who aspire to reach senior management, (b) adding critical control variables to the statistical models used in the pay equation, and (c) by introducing a different conceptualization of the high-potential construct. Also, to better understand the consequences of their study, we considered an additional dependent variable that addressed pay satisfaction. Even after making these model additions, the gender by high-potential interaction term was significant—ruling out four plausible third-variable explanations for the Leslie et al. finding. Moreover, these confirming results were observed using a sample that represented individuals employed in a wide range of industries, who had the educational backgrounds, career histories, and motivational states typically required of candidates competing for senior executive roles. Furthermore, high-potential women did not report higher levels of pay satisfaction, suggesting that high-potential women did not perceive their pay premium to be an inequitable advantage and that there may be limited positive return associated with using a pay premium to retain high-potential talent.