LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS IN EMPLOYMENT TESTING: Albemarle AND BEYOND

Recent court cases have continued to support the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's employee selection guidelines. The most unambiguous support came in Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody , decided by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1975. The Court's 1976 opinion in Washington v. Davis set forth more relaxed statutory standards than those of the EEOC Guidelines, but subsequent lower court decisions have continued to support the EEOC Guidelines, and the new Federal Executive Agency Guidelines have not supplanted them. The EEOC Guidelines provisions upheld in Albemarle are compared with the APA Test Standards and with APA Division 14's Personnel Selection Principles, and implications for employment testing are discussed.     

EFFICACY DISPERSION IN TEAMS: MOVING BEYOND AGREEMENT AND AGGREGATION

We challenge the assumption that within-team variability in team efficacy is simply a methodological concern and statistical prerequisite. We do so by developing a theoretical model and research agenda for the study of dispersion in team efficacy. We construct a taxonomy that distinguishes 4 distinct forms of dispersion in team efficacy, discuss the antecedents to these forms of dispersion, and examine how the forms of efficacy dispersion impact team emergent states, processes, and effectiveness.     

CEREBRAL ASYMMETRY AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN:

Abstract— Phonemic awareness, the ability to abstract and manipulate auditory symbols, is a distinguishing human characteristic Neurobiological specializations in the left hemisphere and cultural exposure to language interact to shape development of this ability Modern imaging techniques now permit investigation of the interaction of these forces In this initial cross-sectional study, we found evidence for a shift from neurobiological to cultural regulation In young children, aged5 to 9, anatomical asymmetry of the auditory association cortex predicted phonemic awareness In older children, the relationship disappeared, as all children became skilled readers The findings suggest that children with different patterns of cognitive strengths and weaknesses may have different spatiotemporal patterns of cortical development.     

BEYOND RELATIVISM AND FOUNDATIONALISM: A PROLEGOMENON TO FUTURE RESEARCH IN ETHICS

Abstract. This article examines the similarities between notions about the nature of reality held by some Christian mystics (Thomas Merton and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing) and those proposed by physicists David Bohm and Henry Margenau. My aim is to consider how the implications of certain metaphysical interpretations of modern physics may: (1) hold similarities with Christian mystical notions about reality, and (2) be important for guiding future research in ethics. I further look into the traditional approaches to ethical theory that come out of the foundationalist, relativist, and skeptical realist camps and argue that while skeptical realists such as Timothy Jackson are moving in the right direction, further consideration of what is meant by reality is necessary if we are to traverse the gap between foundationalists and relativists. It is here that Christian ethicists in particular have the opportunity to pick up the metaphysical batons carried by physicists like Margenau and Bohm and mystics like Merton and the author of The Cloud and begin investigating the possibility that ethical theory can be approached from a nondualistic perspective.     

ATTENTIONAL FLEXIBILITY AND PERSEVERATION: DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS IN YOUNG CHILDREN

Whereas a growing interest in the development of attentional flexibility (AF) and in perseverative behavior, being one marker of this component, exists in neuropsychological studies and in the domain of developmental psychopathology (e.g., PKU, infantile schizophrenia, autism and Parkinson's disease) (Pennington &; Ozonoff, 1996 Pennington, B. and Ozonoff, S. 1996. Executive functions and developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37: 51–88. [PUBMED][INFOTRIEVE][CSA][Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Stahl &; Pry, 2002 Stahl, L. and Pry, R. 2002. Joint attention and set-shifting in young children with autism. Autism, 6(4): 383–396. [PUBMED][INFOTRIEVE][CROSSREF][Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), only a few studies have concerned themselves with this subject in normal children. It is thus of interest to add more empirical data to the existing literature in this domain. Therefore, the aim of our study was to explore the development of AF and of perseverative errors in young preschool children with normal development, aged 1.5 to 6 years. Using set-shifting tasks of increasing difficulty level, three age groups were compared with respect to their AF skills.Results show a developmental factor underlying AF, with different levels of this form becoming more and more complex with age, ranging from a rudimentary visual form to a complex representational form of flexibility. Overall, few perseverative errors occurred and they decreased with age. Results are discussed from a developmental and neuropsychological perspective.     

THE HIDDEN VOICES: EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE AND UNCONSCIOUS COMMUNICATION IN THE ANALYTIC SPACE*

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis - In a previous work I tried to show how a parent’s traumatic experiences can weigh on the following generations, approaching these phenomena in terms...     

SOME EXPLORATIONS IN INITIAL INTERACTION AND BEYOND: TOWARD A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

This paper provides a theoretical perspective for dealing with the initial entry stage of interpersonal interaction. The seven axioms and 21 theorems presented suggest a set of research priorities for studying the development of interpersonal relationships. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the problems to be considered if the theory is to be extended beyond the initial stages of interaction.     

HARUN YAHYA'S INFLUENCE IN MUSLIM MINORITY CONTEXTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH IN BRITAIN,EUROPE, AND BEYOND

In 2006, the Turkish Harun Yahya Enterprise published and distributed thousands of copies of its anti‐evolutionary text Atlas of Creation to educational institutes in the West. Although this was little more than a publicity stunt, it resulted in Harun Yahya becoming a mainstay in discussions about creationism in Europe. Although Yahya is often presented as the “go to” representative of European Muslim perceptions of evolution, one would be hard pressed to find the literature about Islamic creationism in Europe that does not engage in a discussion of Harun Yahya. However, little evidence exists to support the notion that Harun Yahya warrants such extensive attention, or that Harun Yahya has a substantive influence among European Muslims. This article will explore existing claims about the popularity of Harun Yahya, before drawing on recent research into Muslim perceptions of evolution to argue that Harun Yahya is relatively unknown among Muslims, at least in the British context, and is not influential even among those who are familiar with his work.     

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.     

BRONFENBRENNER'S MORAL DILEMMAS IN BRITAIN: CHILDREN,THEIR PEERS AND THEIR PARENTS

Le test des dilemmes moraux d'Urie Bronfenbrenner met les enfants en ptésence d'un certain nombre de situations naturelles dans lesquelles le choix des réponses possibles représente un conflit entre les normes de conduite qui sont approuvées par les adultes, altruistes et “correctes” et les normes de conduite qui relèvent de L'intérêt personnel ou de L'affiliation et qui sont “incorrectes”. Les sujets répondent au test dans trois conditions: une condition de base ou neutre, dans laquelle on leur dit que seuls les expérimentateurs auront connaissance de leurs réponses, et deux conditions expérimentales dans lesquelles on leur dit que les résultats seront portés à la connaissance de leurs parents ou de leurs camarades de classe. Cette méthode permet d'estimer dans une certaine mesure à quel niveau se situent les enfants dans le domaine “moral” ainsi que L'influence relative qu'exercent la pression des pairs ou celle des adultes dans les processus de socialisation, et la direction de cette influence. Les données recueillies en URSS et aux Etats-Unis ont montré que les deux types de pressions extérieures entrent en conflit aux Etats-Unis, mais qu'il existe en URSS un accord entre les normes. Devereux et Bronfenbrenner ont suggéré L'idée qu'en Grande-Bretagne le niveau des normes de conduite approuvées par les adultes était moindre et la pression des pairs particulièrement forte et source de situations conflictuelles. Deux cent soixante-quatorze enfants anglais de douze ans, choisis dans un large éventail d'écoles, ont subi les tests. Les résultats ont été analysés dans une perspective de comparaison inter-nation d'une part et de comparaisons entre les différents types d'écoles d'autre part. i. Les résultats ne confirment pas L'hypothése selon laquelle la conduite serait en général moins influencée par les adultes; 2. La comparaison entre type de pressions sociales confirme que les enfants britanniques ont en commun une “culture de pairs”, plutôt autonome et qu'ils ne répondent pas à la pression des adultes d'une manière simple et prévisible.