The relevancy of holland's theory to a nonprofessional occupation

The authors examined job satisfaction and workers' perceptions of a nonprofessional occupation using the Position Classification Inventory (PCI; G. D. Gottfredson & J. L. Holland, 1991). Results revealed high job satisfaction scores and suggest that the PCI shows promise as a method of classifying working‐class occupations according to J. L. Holland's (1985, 1997) theory.     

a test of holland's theory of vocational personalities and work environments

This study investigated the validity of J. L. Holland's (1997) theory of vocational personalities and work environments. The sample consisted of 241 randomly selected members of the National Association of School Psychologists, each of whom completed a demographic data form, the Self‐Directed Search‐Revised (SDS‐R; J. L. Holland, 1994) and a modified short form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (D. J. Weiss, R. V. Dawis, G. W. England, & L. H. Lofquist, 1967). Only limited support was found for major constructs associated with Holland's theory, although the study found several significant relationships between 3‐letter SDS‐R codes and desired role function as would be predicted by Holland's theory.     

Theoretical application of holland's theory to individual decision‐making styles: implications for career counselors

Career decision making is an important aspect of career choice and career development. This theoretical article explores the relationship between J. L. Holland's (1997) 6 dimensions of personality and individual decision‐making styles. Implications for career counselors are also provided.     

Intentions to report concussion symptoms in nonprofessional athletes: A fuzzy‐trace theory approach

Reducing concussion risks in athletes depends on self‐reporting. Often, athletes decide whether to report concussions or continue playing and risk serious health consequences. Fuzzy‐trace theory (FTT) predicts that reliance on gisty, categorical representations of risky decisions, not amounts of risk/reward, encourages risk avoidance and application of bottom‐line values, or gist principles, thus promoting healthy decisions. Applying FTT, we test whether intentions to report are predicted by gist‐based thinking about risks and values. High school and college students (N = 1,366) were assessed for concussion knowledge, social pressures to not report (by coaches/parents/teammates), categorical gist‐based thinking, endorsement of gist principles expressing values, and intentions to report. As expected, the older group scored higher on gist measures. For young adults, categorical thinking, and gist principles predicted intentions, controlling for sex, knowledge, and social pressures. For adolescents, categorical thinking again predicted intentions. For both age groups, adding FTT's predictors accounted for significantly more variance than baseline models.     

Emotional competence and willingness to seek help from professional and nonprofessional sources

We sought to determine the relationship between emotional competence and willingness to seek help for emotional problems and suicidal ideation. A survey of 300 university undergraduates assessed emotional competence (skill at emotion perception, managing self-relevant emotions, and managing others' emotions), hopelessness, willingness to seek help from health professionals (e.g. counsellor) and nonprofessionals (friends, family), and perceived usefulness of past help-seeking experience. Those who reported feeling less skilled at managing emotions were less willing to seek help from family and friends for both emotional problems and suicidal ideation and less willing to seek help from health professionals for suicidal ideation. These relationships held even after controlling for hopelessness, sex, and past help-seeking experience. Mediational analysis suggested that people low in managing others' emotions were less willing to seek help from professionals because they had had poorer experiences with mental health professionals in the past. There was no significant relationship between emotion perception skill and willingness to seek help. People most likely to be in need of help (those poor at managing emotions) were the least willing to seek it, and if they did seek it, were the least likely to benefit from it.     

A process analysis of nonprofessional intervention with children

Process analysis research methodology was used to examine the interactions between 41 nonprofessional child-aides and 166 primary graders with school maladaptation in 11 urban and suburban schools. Sixty-five percent of the interaction time was spent in play activities, 15% each in conversation and tutoring. Urban schools had more tutoring, while suburban schools emphasized socialization and relation building. Learning disability children had more tutoring time and acting out children more problem conversation. Aides' personal and attitudinal attributes related to process measures. The findings indicate the feasibility and usefulness of process analysis for studying the helping interventions of nonprofessional workers.     

Contrast sensitivity of air-breathing nonprofessional scuba divers at a depth of 40 meters.

Photopic contrast sensitivity of air-breathing scuba divers was measured with a translucent test pattern at depths up to 40 m. The pattern was composed of sine wave gratings with spatial frequency and contrast changing logarithmically. The spatial transfer characteristics were measured at various depths under controlled optical conditions in seawater and in fresh water. Analysis indicates that the visual contrast sensitivity, and therefore probably also acuity, of sport divers is not affected up to depths of 40 m. This holds under ideal as well as poor diving conditions.     

Application of chaos theory to biology and medicine

The application of “chaos theory” to the physical and chemical sciences has resolved some long-standing problems, such as how to calculate a turbulent event in fluid dynamics or how to quantify the pathway of a molecule during Brownian motion. Biology and medicine also have unresolved problems, such as how to predict the occurrence of lethal arrhythmias or epileptic seizures. The quantification of a chaotic system, such as the nervous system, can occur by calculating the correlation dimension (D2) of a sample of the data that the system generates. For biological systems, the point correlation dimension (PD2) has an advantage in that it does not presume stationarity of the data, as the D2 algorithm must, and thus can track the transient non-stationarities that occur when the systems changes state. Such non-stationarities arise during normal functioning (e.g., during an event-related potential) or in pathology (e.g., in epilepsy or cardiac arrhythmogenesis). When stochastic analyses, such as the standard deviation or power spectrum, are performed on the same data they often have a reduced sensitivity and specifity compared to the dimensional measures. For example, a reduced standard deviation of heartbeat intervals can predict increased mortality in a group of cardiac subjects, each of which has a reduced standard deviation, but it cannot specify which individuals will or will not manifest lethal arrhythmogenesis; in contrast, the PD2 of the very same data can specify which patients will manifest sudden death. The explanation for the greater sensitivity and specificity of the dimensional measures is that they aredeterministic, and thus are moreaccurate in quantifying the time-series. This accuracy appears to be significant in detecting pathology in biological systems, and thus the use of deterministic measures may lead to breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of some medical disorders.     

Application of a behavioral theory of motivation to the concepts of anxiety and impulsivity

Gray's model has been employed in attempts to formulate theories concerning the processes underlying various types of psychopathology. In the most direct application of his model, the dominant mood is assumed to reflect the strength of the underlying motivational system—i.e., strong anxiety with a strong behavioral inhibition system (BIS), strong positive affect with a strong behavioral activation system (BAS). This approach would predict strong anxiety to be associated with a dominance of passive avoidance and extinction and, similarly, strong positive affect with a dominance of impulsivity and other approach behaviors.The present paper has argued that these expectations are based on an implicit assumption that equally stressful environments are encountered—an assumption that would be undermined by individual differences in the very motivational systems under consideration. Examination of the approach-avoidance conflict paradigm supported the argument that, at least in the case of anxiety, one should not expect a strong association between behavior and motivational states. In particular, a weak behavioral inhibition system or strong behavioral activation system is likely to facilitate anxiety-producing impulsive behavior, whereas a strong behavioral inhibition system or weak behavioral activation system may facilitate anxiety-reducing cautious behavior. Other factors were also thought to promote independence of affective states and behavioral traits across individuals.On this argument, trait anxiety conceptualized as resulting from a strong BIS may not be highly correlated with frequent anxiety. Stating this another way, the behavioral correlates of a dominant BIS may be relatively independent of a trait involving a dominance of anxious mood. Using Tellegen's (1985) discussion of self-report measures of mood and personality traits, it was proposed that the trait factor of Constraint may be more strongly associated with behavioral consequences of the BAS and BIS, whereas the Negative Emotionality dimension is largely unrelated to the behavioral effects of the BIS. Since Negative Emotionality corresponds to the traditional anxiety/neuroticism factor, this proposal differs from the customary assumptions about the alignment of Gray's motivational systems and personality traits. The personality trait of Positive Emotionality (cf. extraversion) may be associated with individual differences in the strength of the BAS, with both affective and behavioral components. Thus, the hypothesis of motivational-behavioral uncoupling offers an alternative to the usual intepretations of the three major dimensions seen in most personality inventories. Unfortunately, it remains unclear as to how well the three major personality traits (Positive Emotionality, Negative Emotionality, and Constraint) are aligned with the hypothesized underlying motivational dimensions, and any hypotheses must be seen as extremely tentative.Finally, the question of the validity of self-report measures was discussed briefly. Of greatest interest is the possibility that a subset of subjects are unable to accurately report their emotional states, and that methods are available for identifying these individuals. If so, the validity of these self-report measures may be significantly improved, facilitating research on anxiety and impulsivity.     

Application of variable criterion theory to choice reaction time

A theory of choice reaction time ICRT is presented which is based on a variable criterion model assuming the decision criterion to be normally distributed. The theory provides functions of time describing the growth of component processes following stimulus onset. For correct responses, these processes are sensory and associative strength. For errors, the processes are sensory strength, generalized associative strength, and associative inhibition. A model for separating the effects of these processes from that of response competition is presented. The theory describes, with great accuracy, the CRT distributions of correct responses and errors, not only for the experiment for which it was derived, but also for a second experiment in which the criterion was experimentally manipulated. It accounts for the basic facts of the speed-accuracy tradeoff, not only with respect to the two experiments with different speed requirements, but also with respect to the variation of speed over trials within each experiment. While derived from group data, the theory also describes the performance of individual subjects. The mean and variability of the criterion distribution and the ability to utilize associative inhibition are identified as the major sources of individual differences. Methodological problems involved in the scaling analysis of group data are also discussed.     

Application of chaos theory to biology and medicine.

The application of "chaos theory" to the physical and chemical sciences has resolved some long-standing problems, such as how to calculate a turbulent event in fluid dynamics or how to quantify the pathway of a molecule during Brownian motion. Biology and medicine also have unresolved problems, such as how to predict the occurrence of lethal arrhythmias or epileptic seizures. The quantification of a chaotic system, such as the nervous system, can occur by calculating the correlation dimension (D2) of a sample of the data that the system generates. For biological systems, the point correlation dimension (PD2) has an advantage in that it does not presume stationarity of the data, as the D2 algorithm must, and thus can track the transient non-stationarities that occur when the systems changes state. Such non-stationarities arise during normal functioning (e.g., during an event-related potential) or in pathology (e.g., in epilepsy or cardiac arrhythmogenesis). When stochastic analyses, such as the standard deviation or power spectrum, are performed on the same data they often have a reduced sensitivity and specificity compared to the dimensional measures. For example, a reduced standard deviation of heartbeat intervals can predict increased mortality in a group of cardiac subjects, each of which has a reduced standard deviation, but it cannot specify which individuals will or will not manifest lethal arrhythmogenesis; in contrast, the PD2 of the very same data can specify which patients will manifest sudden death. The explanation for the greater sensitivity and specificity of the dimensional measures is that they are deterministic, and thus are more accurate in quantifying the time-series. This accuracy appears to be significant in detecting pathology in biological systems, and thus the use of deterministic measures may lead to breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of some medical disorders.     

Application of the sensory-tonic theory of perception to figural after-effect

Current theoretical positions concerned with figural after-effects were criticized for their inadequacy in accounting for figural after-effects data and for their failure to link these phenomena with other perceptual phenomena in any systematic fashion. On the basis of the relative broadness of Gibson's early formulation, it was decided to adapt a similar adaptation theory, the sensory-tonic field theory of perception, to figural after-effect displacements. Appropriate hypotheses were stated and predictions made. These were tested and confirmed. It was concluded that although the success of the theory is limited, there appears to be hope for its extension.     

Person perception as a function of occupation and sex

The purpose of this study was to assess perception of stimulus persons in sex-appropriate, sex-inappropriate, and neutral occupations, using the sexual dimension of the occupations, the sex of the person-in-occupation, and the sex of the perceiver as independent variables. Male and female Ss rated two stimulus persons (one female and one male) in each of 12 selected occupations (4 masculine, 4 feminine, and 4 neutral occupations) on 20 bipolar rating scales. The scales represented the following factors: Leadership, Interpersonal Adjustment and Likability, Professional and Intellectual Competence, Personal Adjustment, Social Sensitivity, Activity, Happiness in Home Life, Physical Attractiveness, and Liberalism and Individualism. Results indicated that sexual dimension of the occupation and the sex-appropriateness/inappropriateness of the occupation have strong effects on person perception.This study is based on part of a doctoral dissertation in psychology at the Ohio State University, under the direction of Samuel H. Osipow. Partial results were presented at the Western Psychological Association convention, April 1976. Thanks are extended to David Shinar for consultation and statistical analysis of the data.