SOCIAL-COGNITIVE MECHANISMS AND PERSONALITY COHERENCE:

Abstract— This article presents a social-cognitive analysts of cross-situational coherence in personality functioning. Social-cognitive analyses are contrasted with those of trait approaches in personality psychology. Rather than attributing coherence to high-level constructs that correspond directly to observed patterns of social behavior, social-cognitive theory pursues a "bottom-up" analytic strategy in which coherence derives from interactions among multiple underlying causal mechanisms, no one of which corresponds directly to a broad set of responses. Research investigating social and self-knowledge underlying cross-situational coherence in a central social-cognitive mechanism, perceived self-efficacy, is presented. Idiographic analyses revealed that individuals' schematic self-knowledge and situational beliefs give rise to patterns of high and low self-efficacy appraisal across diverse, idiosyncratic sets of situations that do not, in general, correspond to traditional high-level trait categories Bottom-up analyses in personality psychology are related to other disciplines' analyses of organization in complex, adaptive systems.     

PERCEPTUAL PROCESS AND THE EBBINGHAUS ILLUSION

Perception is shown in a block diagram which includes the instrumental errors in the sensing device, the transmission distortion in the nerves and the perceptual misjudgment in the high center. The perceptual misjudgment originates from the variation of comparison standards and the method of comparison, and would correspond to the mis-programming of the computer. A general mathematical formula for perception under the influence of various background stimuli is presented. The mechanism and equation for predicting the Ebbinghaus illusion are also presented.     

EYEMOVEMENT AND PERCEPTUAL ADAPTATION TO CURVATURE

It is proposed that perceptual adaptation is basically an immediate localized consequence of stimulation but can become generalized through a process of conditioning by temporal contiguity. Experimental conditions were designed to assess the aftereffect of adaptation to curvature under various combinations of eye position and eye movement activity for adapting vs. test periods. In general, the results support the hypothesis that perceptual adaptation to a visual stimulus can be associated with the nonvisual factors present at the time the adaptation occurs.     

SOCIAL TRADITIONALISM AND PERSONALITY: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SOCIAL VALUES AND PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES*

Three personality variables - field dependence-independence cognitive style, tolerance of ambiguity and machiavellianism - and two social value variables - conformity-self-assertion and fatalism-personal efficacy - were used to investigate the relationship between attachment to norms of social traditionalism and personality orientation. Subjects were 218 first-level supervisors from five industrial plants in Auckland, New Zealand. They were classified into four cultural groups depending on whether they were immigrant or indigenous Polynesians or Europeans. It was found that, with the exception of fatalism-personal efficacy and machiavellianism, social values were significantly correlated with personality attributes. The direction of these associations supported the hypothesis that attachment to norms of social traditionalism is associated with low levels of psychological development, while attachment to norms of modernity is associated with high levels of psychological development.     

THE PRICE OF EXPERTISE:

Abstract— When shown a idled container, people often fail to appreciate that the surface of the liquid contained within should remain horizontal with respect to the ground. This study investigated how amenable this bias is to experience in relevant everyday situations. Surprisingly, liquid surfaces that waitresses and bartenders considered natural deviated even more from horizontal than was the case for comparison groups. This finding is, to our knowledge, the only documented case in which performance declines with experience. We suggest that practical experience promotes a functionally relative perspective, in which the orientation of the liquid's surface is evaluated relative to that of its container as opposed to being related directly to the surrounding environment. The container-relative perspective, in turn, evokes a perceptual bias that is responsible for the systematic errors observed on this task.     

PSYCHOMOTOR EXPRESSION AND PERSONALITY STUDY

The main purpose was to examine whether ratings of the 'natural speed of behaviour' are related to factors of 'personal tempo' found by common types of tempo tests. Psychomotor performance of varying levels of complexity was studied. In addition to standard tempo tasks, tests of maximum tempo were used. There were significant positive correlations between the ratings of the 'natural speed' and the tests of personal tempo, especially in ideomotor and drawing tasks, in subjects aged 13 to 14 years. In younger age groups the correlations were low. An attempt is made to interpret the results in terms of 'working habits'.     

PERSONALITY TRAITS AND MULTIPLE-ACT CRITERIA

Hewes and Haight question the utility of a multiple act approach for understanding the relationship between traits and communicative behavior. Based upon data collected in two separate studies, they suggest that previous investigations have overestimated the contribution of the multiple-act approach. However, an analysis of their report suggests that their findings are ambiguous and less than compelling. A taxonomy of behavioral measures is explicated to provide a framework for the discussion of the prediction of behavioral criteria. In addition, various approaches to the prediction of single acts are discussed.     

THE MAIN PART AND PILLAR OF BERKELEY'S THEORY: IDEALISM AND PERCEPTUAL HETEROGENEITY

Berkeley subscribed to the principle of heterogeneity, that what we see is qualitatively and numerically different from what we touch. He says of this principle that it is “the main part and pillar of [his] theory.” The argument I present here is that the theory to which Berkeley refers is not just his theory of vision, but what that theory was the preparation for, which is nothing less than his idealism. The argument turns on the passivity of perception, which is what is at stake in the principle of heterogeneity. The author targeted by Berkeley's theory is Descartes, who explicitly denies heterogeneity.     

ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC BIOFEEDBACK AND PERCEPTUAL MOTOR TRAINING FOR HYPERACTIVITY

Occupational therapists use various treatments and methods to decrease hyperactivity in children. In this article, the etiology and treatment of hyperactivity is reviewed with special emphasis on neurophysiological indices. Application of perceptual motor and electromyographic biofeedback techniques for inhibition of hyperactive behaviors are compared and contrasted as viable treatment options for the occupational therapist. Electromyographic biofeedback and perceptual motor techniques may prove to be supportive therapeutic interventions.     

PERSONALITY AND JOB PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE OF INCREMENTAL VALIDITY

It is suggested that personality variables are significant predictors of job performance when carefully matched with the appropriate occupation and organization. The present study investigates the relationship between specific personality variables and job performance in a sample ( N = 43) of accountants. The results indicate that even with the effects of cognitive ability taken into account, three personality scales (orientation towards work; degree of ascendancy; and degree and quality of interpersonal orientation) are significantly related to important aspects of job performance. It is suggested that the overall validity of selection strategies might be improved with the addition of measures of relevant personality dimensions when appropriately matched to an occupation and organization.     

BEYOND PERSONALITY TRAITS: A STUDY OF PERSONALITY STATES AND SITUATIONAL CONTINGENCIES IN CUSTOMER SERVICE JOBS

Although the interactionist approach has been applied to understanding situational influences on the expression of personality at work, examination of within‐person variation in personality trait expression in the workplace is lacking. Using experience sampling methodology, this study examined the moment‐to‐moment influences of situational characteristics on personality states (i.e., situational contingencies) during social interactions on 56 customer service employees over 10 days at work. At the within‐individual level, state Conscientiousness was associated with the immediacy of the task, and state Extraversion and Agreeableness were associated with the friendliness of the other party in the interaction. At the between‐individual level, self‐monitoring did not moderate the associations between situational characteristics and personality states but predicted the mean level of state Conscientiousness at work over and above trait Conscientiousness. Contrary to expectations, the relationship between state Extraversion and friendliness was weaker in customized service jobs than in noncustomized ones.