The effects of experience on performance in Wason’s selection task

The Wason selection task is a hypothetico-deductive reasoning problem employing the logical rule of implication. Recent studies have indicated that performance on this task may be related to subjects’ experience with the task content. Five versions of the task that differed in the manner in which they were related to the subjects’ experience with a familiar implication relationship were examined. The correct solution rate varied as a function of both the subjects’ extraexperimental and intraexperimental experience. A memory-cuing/reasoning-by-analogy explanation is proposed to account for the direct relationship between performance and the degree of similarity to subjects’ experience.     

Effects of a secondary task on "implicit" sequence learning: learning or performance?

Traditionally, implicit learning has been defined in terms of a lack of awareness of the process and products of learning. In the face of a number of conceptual and empirical difficulties with this definition, it has recently been suggested instead that the critical feature of implicit learning is that it proceeds without making any demands on attentional resources. As disconfirmatory evidence for this, we describe the results of two experiments which each used a sequential reaction time task. With a tone-counting secondary task, measures of sequence learning were significantly affected by whether training occurred under single- or dual-task conditions, regardless of whether testing took place under single- or dual-task conditions.     

Negotiating faith on the Coventry Road: British-Muslim youth identities in the ‘third space’

This article, which arises from three years of ethnographic fieldwork, explores the negotiation of faith, place and social identity amongst British-Muslim youth in one inner-city community in Birmingham, UK. Narratives drawn from fieldwork are brought into a critical dialogue with theoretical discourse about the nature of culture, the built urban environment, youth identities and contextualised religious discourse within the British-Muslim community. The article suggests that a dynamic definition of culture as an open and ongoing process of meaning-making and the utilisation of ‘third space’ thinking are needed to adequately explore the multifaceted contextual religious discourse of British-Muslim youth. The article seeks to answer a key question: how do urban British-Muslim youth negotiate faith and meaning in a society that increasingly questions their presence and what might their experience have to teach wider society about the impact that contemporary urbanism has on the articulation of personal, political and religious identity?     

Physical cognition and tool-use: performance of Darwin’s finches in the two-trap tube task

The trap tube is a classic test of causal reasoning abilities in animals in the physical domain. Recently, a modified version of this task improved its diagnostic capacity and allowed testing of non-tool-using animals. We used this modified two-trap tube task to compare the cognition of two Darwin’s finch species: the woodpecker finch, Cactospiza pallida, a tool-using species, and the small tree finch, Camarhynchus parvulus, a closely related non-tool-using species. Not all woodpecker finches use tools in nature, and we therefore also tested non-tool-using individuals to assess the effect of experience on trap tube performance. No small tree finches and only two non-tool-using woodpecker finches solved the initial task which was operated using a pre-inserted piston. One tool-using woodpecker finch solved the task when allowed to use its own tool instead of the pre-inserted piston. The fact that none of these subjects transferred their knowledge when the features of the task changed, suggests that in this species, neither experience using tools nor the genetic composition of a tool-user are associated with the general physical cognitive skills required to solve the trap tube task.     

Measuring drivers’ takeover performance in varying levels of automation: Considering the influence of cognitive secondary task

Mixed control by driver and automated system will remain in use for decades until fully automated driving is perfected. Thus, drivers must be able to accurately regain control of vehicles in a timely manner when the automated system sends a takeover request (TOR) at its limitation. Therefore, determining the factors that affect drivers’ takeover quality at varying levels of automated driving is important. Previous studies have shown that visually distracting secondary tasks impair drivers’ takeover performance and increase the subjective workload. However, the influence of purely cognitive distracting secondary tasks on drivers’ takeover performance and how this influence varies at different levels of automation are still unknown. Hence, a 5 (driving modes) × 3 (cognitive secondary tasks) factorial design with the within-subject factors was adopted for this driving simulator experiment. The sample consisted of 21 participants. The participants’ subjective workloads were recorded by the NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Results showed that compared to manual driving conditions, the drivers’ subjective workloads were significantly reduced in both partially and highly automated driving conditions, even with a TOR, confirming the benefit of the automated driving system in terms of reducing the driving workload. Moreover, the drivers exhibited a lower takeover behavior quality at high levels of automation than manual driving in terms of increased reaction time, abnormal performance, standard deviation of lane position, lane departure probability, and reduced minimum of time to collision. However, at the highly automated driving condition, the drivers’ longitudinal driving safety and ability to follow instructions improved when performing a highly cognitive secondary task. This phenomenon possibly occurred because automated driving conditions lead to an underload phenomenon, and the execution of highly cognitive tasks transfers drivers into moderate load, which helps with the drivers’ takeover performance.     

Brief approaches to assessing task absorption and enhanced subjective experience: Examining ‘short’ and ‘core’ flow in diverse performance domains

The overarching aim of the present study is to expand current approaches to assessing task absorption and subjective experience by assessing two brief measures of flow: (1) ‘short’ flow, reflecting an aggregate or global measure drawn from the ‘long’ multi-item multi-factor flow instrument and (2) ‘core’ flow reflecting the phenomenology of the subjective flow experience itself. We propose that short and core flow have complementary but non-overlapping merits, purposes, and applications. Study 1 examines ‘short’ flow in work (N = 637), sport (N = 239), and music (N = 224). Study 2 examines ‘core’ flow in general school (N = 2,229), extracurricular activity (N = 2,229), mathematics (N = 378), and sport (N = 220) contexts. With few exceptions, both flow measures demonstrated: (a) acceptable model fit, reliability, and distributions, (b) associations with motivation in hypothesized ways, and (c) invariance in factor loadings across diverse samples. Where common data are available, both short and core flow are positively correlated, but with approximately half the variance unexplained they are clearly not the same construct, and so we offer guidance regarding which measure/s to use under particular circumstances. We conclude that the brief flow measures are appropriate for research examining task absorption, subjective experience, and cognate constructs such as motivation.

The effects of a mental skills package on ‘repeatable good performance’ in cricketers

Objectives: To examine the efficacy of a mental skills package to both improve consistency and level of performance in cricketers, and to investigate the influence of different performance measures on cricketing performance.Method: Semi-professional cricketers (n=16) were matched into experimental and control groups. Cricketing performance was monitored subjectively and objectively across two seasons. Prior to the second season, the experimental group were provided with an intervention package consisting of goal-setting, activation regulation, self-talk, mental imagery and concentration.Results: Data from two, two-way multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) indicated that cricketers in the experimental group experienced improved performance consistency and improved performance when using subjective scoring procedures, but only a performance improvement was recorded using objective measures. Subsequent single-case analysis applied to the data of four of the experimental participants also revealed support for the efficacy of the intervention.Conclusions: A mental skill package was seen to be beneficial to enhance performance consistency and actual levels of performance. In view of these findings, practitioners and coaches may wish to consider both objective and subjective scoring measures to improve the sensitivity of performance indicators.     

‘New Rules for Labour Immigration’: Delving into the 2008 Swedish Reform of Labour Migration and Its Effects on Migrants’ Well-Being

I have investigated the nature of the transformation triggered by the reform of labour mobility entitled ‘New Rules for Labour Immigration’, introduced in Sweden in 2008, and its impact on migrants’ well-being. By applying the methodology of the ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ approach (Bacchi 2009), I show that the problem at which the reform was aimed is represented as a shortage of skills and labour. I argue that such a representation and the silences it invokes are underpinned by the paradigms of managed migration and of neoliberalism, thus marking a discontinuity in the political rhetoric of universalism which had been endorsed by Sweden since the beginning of the 1970s. I contend that such a formulation of the problem assumes and entails a conceptualisation of migrants as factors of production. This formulation stands in sharp opposition to the one advanced by the Human Development and Capability Approach to migration (UNDP 2009) which recognises migrants as human beings, endowed with capabilities, aspirations, and agency. Such reification of migrants implies that the reform regulates the stay of immigrants in Sweden with the purpose of maximising their contribution to Swedish economic growth, thus putting them in a vulnerable position which is likely to reduce their capability for work (Bonvin 2009).     

There is an ‘I’ in truth: How salient identities shape dynamic perceptions of truth

This research examined the hypothesis that people judge as true those claims aligned with the normative content of their salient social identities. In Experiment 1a, participants’ social identities were manipulated by assigning them to ‘inductive-thinker’ and ‘intuitive-thinker’ groups. Participants subsequently made truth judgements about aphorisms randomly associated with ‘science’ and ‘popular wisdom’. Those with salient inductive-thinker social identities judged science-based claims as more truthful than popular wisdom-based claims to a greater extent than those with salient intuitive-thinker social identities. Experiment 1b was a preregistered replication, with additional conditions eliminating an alternative semantic-priming explanation. In Experiment 2, American Conservatives and Liberals judged as more true claims associated with the ideological content of their social identities. This difference was attenuated through a manipulation that framed participants as more moderate than they had originally indicated. Overall, these experiments suggest an identity-truth malleability, such that making salient specific social identities can lead to related perceptions of truth normatively aligned with those identities.     

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over: The effect of task completion on the savoring of success

The present research investigated a common yet to date unexamined assumption that individuals are unlikely to savor success when they have not yet fully completed a task. In Study 1 (N = 83), we assessed savoring responses of soccer players who were either winning or were tied at the end of the first half (in progress) and at the end of the match (completed). In Study 2 (N = 121 undergraduates), performance feedback (successful vs. average) and task completion (in progress vs. completed) were manipulated and savoring was assessed. In both studies, successful individuals reported savoring their positive experience less when the task was in progress as compared to completed. Results of a third study (N = 152 undergraduates) showed that lower savoring of success was due to individuals’ focus on and worries about future performance as well as the perception that positive emotions have limited utility. We discuss these findings in terms of the consequences for performance and well-being.     

God’s omnipresence in the world: on possible meanings of ‘en’ in panentheism

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion - Panenetheism is the claim that God and the cosmos are intimately inter-related, with the cosmos being in God and God being in the cosmos. What...     

The Effects of ‘Face’ on Listening Comprehension: Evidence from Advanced Jordanian Speakers of English

This empirical study examines the extent to which ‘face’, i.e. (audio visual dialogues), affects the listening comprehension of advanced Jordanian EFL learners in a TOFEL-like test, as opposed to its absence (i.e. a purely audio test) which is the current norm in many English language proficiency tests, including but not limited to TOFEL iBT, TOEIC and academic IELTS. Through an online experiment, 60 Jordanian postgraduate linguistics and English literature students (advanced EFL learners) at the University of Jordan sit for two listening tests (simulating English proficiency tests); namely, one which is purely audio [i.e. without any face (including any visuals such as motion, as well as still pictures)], and one which is audiovisual/video. The results clearly show that the inclusion of visuals enhances subjects’ performance in listening tests. It is concluded that since the aim of English proficiency tests such as TOEFL iBT is to qualify or disqualify subjects to work and study in western English-speaking countries, the exclusion of visuals is unfounded. In actuality, most natural interaction includes visibility of the interlocutors involved, and hence test takers who sit purely audio proficiency tests in English or any other language are placed at a disadvantage.     

Characterizing positive and negative ‘voicers’ in elite sport teams: The role of the Five Factor Model and narcissism in players’ frequency and passing on of voice

ObjectiveThis study examined the role of the Five Factor Model and grandiose narcissism in players’ positive (i.e., constructive voice, supportive voice) and negative voice (i.e., defensive voice, destructive voice) in elite sport teams.MethodPlayers from six field hockey and seven korfball teams from the two highest national levels were assessed for four weeks. Using social network analyses, players’ personality was related to their self-reported voice frequency, their voice frequency as perceived by all teammates (other-ratings), and the extent to which they pass on voice.ResultsExtraversion was positively related to players’ frequency of positive and negative voice. Other traits such as conscientiousness and emotional stability were only related to, respectively, positive or negative types of voice. Not all personalities (e.g., extraversion) were consistent in how they assess their own voice versus how others perceive this. Interestingly, traits such as extraversion, emotional stability and the agentic facet of narcissism were found to predict the passing on of voice.ConclusionThis study explored the importance of personality for (a) players’ frequency of a differentiated set of positive and negative voice and (b) the extent to which they function as ‘gates’ that more covertly pass on voice. Further, the results provide perspective on how specific personalities view their voice behavior versus how their teammates perceive their voice behavior. In this way, this study is a first step in identifying players who have the potential to endanger or strengthen a team in a clear or subtle, yet influential way.     

Testing the repression hypothesis: Effects of emotional valence on memory suppression in the think – No think task

It has been proposed that performance in the think – no think (TNT) task represents a laboratory analogue of the voluntary form of memory repression. The central prediction of this repression hypothesis is that performance in the TNT task will be influenced by emotional characteristics of the material to be remembered. This prediction was tested in two experiments by asking participants to learn paired associates in which the first item was either emotionally positive (e.g. joy) or emotionally negative (e.g. hatred). The second word was always emotionally neutral (e.g. socks). Consistent with the repression hypothesis, significant memory suppression was observed in both experiments following ‘no think’ instructions for memories associated with emotionally negative material. No suppression was observed for memories associated with emotionally positive information. Implications of these findings for the relationship between performance in the TNT task and the controversial notion of memory repression are considered.     

‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’: Recontextualization in Writing from Sources

Despite calls for more research into the writing expertise of senior scientists, the literature reveals surprisingly little about the writing strategies of successful scientist writers. The present paper addresses the gap in the literature by reporting a study that investigated the note-taking strategies of an expert writer, a Chinese professor of biochemistry. Primarily based on interview data, the paper describes the expert’s recontextualization (Linell, Text 18:143–157, 1998) strategies at three levels: ‘accumulating writing materials’ by modifying source texts, composing from ‘collections’ of cut-and-pasted chunks in drafting a review article, and adopting reusable citations in sources as a ‘map’. It is emphasized that through repeatedly revising his paper in light of his rhetorical intentions in a new context of meaning, the expert writer would maximally recontextualize the source-based text segments and citations in the paper, averting transgressive intertextuality (Chandrasoma et al., J Lang Identity Educ 3:171–193, 2004) as a result. The paper ends by highlighting the pedagogical implications of the study for English for Professional Academic Purposes (EPAP).     

‘Now I can go on:’ Wittgenstein and our embodied embeddedness in the ‘Hurly-Burly’ of life

Wittgenstein is not primarily concerned with anything mysterious going on inside people's heads, but with us simply going on with each other; that is, with us being able to inter-relate our everyday, bodily activities in unproblematic ways in with those of others, in practice. Learning to communicate with clear and unequivocal meanings; to send messages; to fully understand each other; to be able to reach out, so to speak, from within language-game entwined forms of life, and to talk in theoretical terms of the contacts one has made., as an individual, with what is out there; and so on — all these abilities are, or can be, later developments. Wittgenstein's investigations into our pre-individual, pre-theoretical, embodied, compulsive activities are utterly revolutionary. They open up a vast new realm for empirical study to do with the detailed and subtle nature of the bodily activities in the background to everything that we do. The relational character of such pre-theoretical, Ur-linguistic, spontaneous bodily activities—and the way in which they display us as seeing connections from within a synopsis of trivialities — is explored through the paradigm of currently fashionable 3–13 random dot autostereograms.     

Why didn’t you say something? Effects of after-event reviews on voice behaviour and hierarchy beliefs in multi-professional action teams

Team decision-making can go wrong when individuals fear to voice suggestions or concerns to higher status team members. We investigate how after-event reviews (AERs) can be used to promote voice behaviour and hierarchy-attenuating beliefs in multi-professional action teams. We hypothesized that (1) lower status team members will speak up more following an assertiveness-specific AER (ASAER) as compared to a teamwork-generic AER (TGAER) and (2) that an ASAER leads to stronger endorsement of hierarchy-attenuating beliefs than the TGAER. To test these hypotheses, we implemented simulations of medical emergencies with 20 healthcare teams consisting of low (i.e., nurses) and high-status (i.e., physicians) professions. After participating in one of the two AERs, teams managed a simulation in which a higher status confederate engaged in potentially harmful actions. Behavioural coding of the videotaped simulations and assessment of team members’ hierarchy beliefs supported both hypotheses: nurses spoke up more following the ASAER than following the TGAER and both professional groups reported significantly higher levels of hierarchy-attenuating beliefs following the ASAER as compared to the TGAER. We discuss how AERs can affect upward voice and increase awareness for the potential downsides of status hierarchies in multi-professional teams.     

Effects of workaholism on volunteer firefighters’ performance: a moderated mediation model including supervisor recognition and emotional exhaustion

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives: Although workaholism has been associated with job performance, the mechanisms that explain this relationship remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the conditional indirect effects of workaholism on performance via emotional exhaustion, across low and high levels of supervisor recognition.

Methods: We conducted an empirical cross-sectional study using a sample of 1028 volunteer firefighters who completed a self-report questionnaire assessing workaholism, emotional exhaustion, work performance, and supervisor recognition.

Results: Tests of latent interactions were performed using the latent moderated structural equation modeling approach. Consistent with our predictions, results revealed that the negative indirect effects of workaholism on performance, through emotional exhaustion, were stronger when supervisor recognition was low.

Conclusions: Theorical contributions and perspectives, as well as implications for practice are discussed.     

Sons and Mothers: New Insight into the End of Active Motherhood in the ‘Age of Austerity’

True independence is difficult for young adults to achieve by leaving home due to economic austerity and contemporary expectation. Such extended dependence has, however, been little studied. Midlife mothers were interviewed to explore their experience of having their adult sons live at home. The interviews were analysed using Grounded Theory (Strauss and Corbin in Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage, Newbury Park, CA, 1990). The essence of the mothers’ (n = 5) experience was captured in the core category, Coming to Terms and Entering a New Phase. This category integrates the three-stage model of process that occurred as mothers accepted that their maternal role was changing and they needed to prepare for the next stage of their lives. The three stages were represented by the subcategories, Shifting Role, Anticipating Loss and Letting Go. The women believed that their sons would not be able to leave home until they could purchase a property, a distant prospect for many. The findings extend the work of previous lifespan models, including that of Apter (Secret paths: women in the new midlife. W. W. Norton, New York, 1995) but with greater depth and clarity, in a vital and changed contemporary context that is likely to be relevant for a large population of women.