EVALUATION OF AN INTERVIEWEE SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM IN A NATURAL FIELD EXPERIMENT

The purpose of this study was to provide an evaluation of an interviewee skills training program in a field setting using a broad sample of interviewers, jobs, and candidates. The training program ( n = 158) derived its content from previous literature and used multiple instructional techniques. An experimental design was employed with a self-study (placebo control) group ( n = 140), random assignment, and many levels of evaluation criteria. Measures exhibited acceptable reliability, and statistical power was high for all analyses. Results indicated that class members responded positively to the program and demonstrated substantial learning. Interviewer evaluations of behavior failed to distinguish between experimental groups, however, and no differences were observed in job offers. Furthermore, no differences were observed between study participants and nonparticipants ( n = 174) in terms of interview behavior and job offers. This study illustrates the danger of relying solely on reaction or learning criteria in the evaluation of training programs. Several explanations are offered for the findings.     

THE INFLUENCE OF RELATIONAL DEMOGRAPHY ON PANEL INTERVIEW RATINGS: A FIELD EXPERIMENT

The influence of relational demography (assessor race, candidate race, and the racial composition of rating panels) was examined in a structured interview setting. Twenty assessors (10 White and 10 Black) comprising five, 4-person panels of all possible racial compositions, evaluated videotaped responses of police officers participating in a promotion process. Each panel rated the same 73 (36 White and 37 Black) candidates' responses to a complex, structured interview question. An examination of mean overall ratings revealed a same race bias and a significant difference between panels based upon the relational demography of the interview panel; nevertheless, the size of these effects was small. Net reconciliation (i.e., between initial and final scores) differed significantly between minority and majority panel conditions for only Black assessors and, again, the effects here were very small. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

AN UPWARD FEEDBACK FIELD EXPERIMENT: SUPERVISORS' CYNICISM, REACTIONS, AND COMMITMENT TO SUBORDINATES

A field experiment was conducted to examine outcomes associated with an upward feedback program in a policing agency. Experimental groups included 110 supervisors who were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) a feedback group in which supervisors and subordinates completed surveys and received feedback at two time periods, or (b) a survey-only group in which supervisors and subordinates completed surveys at Times 1 and 2, but supervisors received feedback only at Time 2. Results showed no significant improvement for the feedback or survey-only group with regard to subordinate ratings of leadership. However, a significant decrease in self-rated leadership scores occurred between Time 1 and Time 2 for the supervisors receiving feedback at Time 1, and no such changes were observed for supervisors who were only surveyed at Time 1. In addition, Time 1 to Time 2 leadership change was predicted by organizational cynicism and the extent to which the recipient reacts positively to upward feedback and takes steps to improve. Thus, individual attitudes appear to be relevant to behavior change following upward feedback. In addition, leadership measured at Time 1 predicted supervisors' commitment to their subordinates at Time 2 for the feedback group, but not for the survey-only group. Such results demonstrate that outcomes in addition to performance, such as commitment to subordinates, need to be considered in the implementation of upward feedback programs.     

TESTING A HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE

Abstract— A priming procedure (e g, Klein, Loftus Trafton, & Fuhrman, 1992) was used to lest a hierarchical model of self-knowledge. According lo this model, people simultaneously hold multiple representations of themselves that differ bath in their context specificity and in the type of knowledge of which they consist Specifically, context-independent self-knowledge is assumed to be represented abstractly without reference to any particular behaviors, whereas the representation of context-dependent self-knowledge includes knowledge of one's behavior in specific situations. Our results support a hierarchical model. Subjects accessed abstract knowledge when describing their context-independent personality characteristics, but accessed behavioral episodes when describing themselves in a specific context Possible implications of this research are discussed, as a the relation of a hierarchical model of self-knowledge to a mixed model of self-knowledge (e g, Klein & Loftus, 1993b).     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUPERVISORY RATINGS AND RESULTS-ORIENTED MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE: A META-ANALYSIS

A meta-analysis was conducted with 23 studies to assess the relationship between supervisory ratings and results-oriented measures of performance. As hypothesized, the corrected mean correlation was higher when a relative (versus absolute) rating format was used and when a composite (versus overall) rating method was used. These differences did not, however, account for all of the remaining variance around the relationship between ratings and results. Suggestions are offered for the direction of future research and practice.     

A SUPERVISORY STRATEGY TO IMPROVE WORK PERFORMANCE FOR LOWER FUNCTIONING RETARDED CLIENTS IN A SHELTERED WORKSHOP

A multiple component strategy was investigated for aiding staff responsible for supervising production of lower functioning retarded clients on contract tasks in an institution-based sheltered workshop. The strategy was assessed in a combined multi-element, multiple baseline across groups design with a reversal component. Production performance increased during the production supervisory strategy with all 16 clients, with the range of increase varying from a few percentage points to 150% of baseline production. Both the clients and staff (responsible for conducting the research) preferred working under experimental conditions rather than under baseline conditions which approximated those found in “typical” sheltered workshops.     

TESTING LATOUR'S APP: A USER'S GUIDE

I reconstruct Bruno Latour's ideas about science and religion and compare them to Ian G. Barbour's and Mikael Stenmark's models, as well as to the discussion of technology and religion developed by John C. Caiazza and Antje Jackelén. I show how using “Latour's App” enlightens some aspects of said models which Barbour and Stenmark themselves were seemingly struggling with, and that Caiazza's and Jackelén's views can be reconciled despite their apparent opposition. The result of such tests is an overall assessment of Latour's proposal. I argue that, under the disguise of a flamboyant and original language, Latour's method is not that distant from those of the other authors analyzed here, and that his discussion might conceal some unwelcome philosophical shortcomings.     

自我效能感与普通话测试的相关研究

通过研究自我效能感对普通话水平测试的影响,为普通话测试提供心理学依据。结果表明：自我效能感与普通话测试成绩呈显著的正相关,有较好的预测;被测试者年龄与自我效能感总分无显著相关;不同性别被测试者自我效能感存在显著的性别差异,女性自我效能感显著高于男性自我效能感。     

WHY DOES PROACTIVE PERSONALITY PREDICT EMPLOYEE LIFE SATISFACTION AND WORK BEHAVIORS? A FIELD INVESTIGATION OF THE MEDIATING ROLE OF THE SELF-CONCORDANCE MODEL

We integrated the proactive personality and the self-concordance model literatures to hypothesize and test a model that explicates the processes through which proactive personality relates to employee life satisfaction, in-role performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Across 3 time periods, data were collected from 165 employees and their supervisors. Results indicated that more proactive individuals were more likely to set self-concordant goals and attain their goals, which in turn predicted psychological need satisfaction. Psychological need satisfaction subsequently predicted employee life satisfaction, in-role performance, and OCBs. Further, goal attainment directly predicted employee life satisfaction. Our results also indicated that proactive personality's relations with employee life satisfaction, in-role performance, and OCBs were entirely indirect through goal self-concordance, goal attainment, and psychological need satisfaction.     

A SERIAL AFTERIMAGE EXPERIMENT IN CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS

Successive change in the size of negative afterimages repeatedly projected upon a screen was measured in a group of 87 psychiatric patients and a control group of 27. Primitive-hysteroid subjects were characterized by fluctuating serials, compulsives by small size changes of short duration, anxiety cases by progressively growing, dark, achromatic images, and psychotics by sudden contractions to size-constant or concrete images. A tentative finding for depressives was also presented and discussed.     

SEX ROLE ORIENTATION AND TYPE A BEHAVIOR PATTERN

Male and female college students completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Jenkins Activity Survey, a part of which is the Type A Scale. Correlational results showed that as Type A scores increased, BSRI scores decreased (more masculine sex role orientation). Analysis of variance showed that males and females with masculine sex role orientations (SROs) had significantly higher Type A scores than those with androgynous SROs, who in turn had significantly higher Type A scores than those with feminine SROs.