Perspectives on personality: the relative accuracy of self versus others for the prediction of emotion and behavior

This study compares the relative accuracy of targets' self-reports and other-reports of personality in predicting two criteria: (a) emotional experience in daily life and (b) behavior in the laboratory. Ratings of the targets' extraversion and neuroticism were obtained from two knowledgeable informants and the targets themselves. Target participants wore an electronic signaling device ("beeper") for eight days and rated positive and negative emotions at four randomly selected times each day. The participants also interacted with an opposite-sex stranger in a laboratory context and their behavior was coded from videotapes. Targets' self-reports of personality were consistently more accurate than other-reports in predicting daily emotional experience. Self-reports also outperformed other-reports in predicting extraversion-related laboratory behaviors, but not neuroticism-related behaviors. The relative accuracy of self- and other-reports of personality would seem to depend on the criterion employed; self-reports are clearly better for the prediction of emotional experience, while for behavior the picture is mixed.     

Training metric accuracy in distance estimation skill: pictures versus words

Training metric accuracy in distance estimation skill for distances up to 300 m was done using three different feedback methods: Direct verbal feedback in the field, indirect visual feedback consisting of presentation of labelled markers in the field, and indirect visual feedback consisting of presentation of labelled markers in pictorial depictions of the field. Results from Experiment 1 showed that all three feedback methods resulted in rapid acquisition of skill in estimating perceived distance from a stationary viewpoint and that the skill transferred to a new field setting. Results from Experiment 2 replicated these results for the estimation of traversed distance along routes. These findings have important implications for the use of pictorial presentations, including virtual reality technology, to train generalizable spatial skills. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Further evidence for the validity of assessment center dimensions: a meta-analysis of the incremental criterion-related validity of dimension ratings

This study investigates the incremental variance in job performance explained by assessment center (AC) dimensions over and above personality and cognitive ability. The authors extend previous research by using meta-analysis to examine the relationships between AC dimensions, personality, cognitive ability, and job performance. The results indicate that the 7 summary AC dimensions postulated by W. Arthur, Jr., E. A. Day, T. L. McNelly, & P. S. Edens (2003) are distinguishable from popular individual difference constructs and explain a sizeable proportion of variance in job performance beyond cognitive ability and personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

Classification accuracy of MMPI-2 validity scales in the detection of pain-related malingering: a known-groups study

The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2nd edition (MMPI-2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) validity indicators in the detection of malingering in clinical patients with chronic pain using a hybrid clinical-known groups/simulator design. The sample consisted of patients without financial incentive (n = 23), nonmalingering patients with financial incentive (n = 34), patients definitively determined to be malingering based on published criteria ( n = 32), and college students asked to simulate pain-related disability (n = 26). The MMPI-2 validity scales differentiated malingerers from nonmalingerers with a high degree of accuracy. Hypochondriasis and Hysteria were also effective. For all variables except Scale L, more extreme scores were associated with higher specificity. This study demonstrates that the MMPI-2 is capable of differentiating intentional exaggeration from the effects on symptom report of chronic pain, genuine psychological disturbance, and concurrent stress associated with pursuing a claim in a medico-legal context.     

Some critical observations of the test information function as a measure of local accuracy in ability estimation

The test information function serves important roles in latent trait models and in their applications. Among others, it has been used as the measure of accuracy in ability estimation. A question arises, however, if the test information function is accurate enough for all meaningful levels of ability relative to the test, especially when the number of test items is relatively small (e.g., less than 50). In the present paper, using the constant information model and constant amounts of test information for a finite interval of ability, simulated data were produced for eight different levels of ability and for twenty different numbers of test items ranging between 10 and 200. Analyses of these data suggest that it is desirable to consider some modification of the test information function when it is used as the measure of accuracy in ability estimation.     

Relative effectiveness and validity of mood induction procedures: a meta-analysis

The effectiveness and validity of 11 important mood induction procedures (MIPs) were comparatively evaluated by meta-analytical procedures. Two hundred and fifty effects of the experimental induction of positive, elated and negative, depressed mood in adult, non-clinical samples were integrated. Effect sizes were generally larger for negative than for positive mood inductions. The presentation of a film or story turned out to be most effective in inducing both positive and negative mood states. The effects are especially large when subjects are explicitly instructed to enter the specified mood state. For elated mood, all other MIPs yielded considerably lower effectiveness scores. For the induction of negative mood states, Imagination, Velten, Music, Social Interaction and Feedback MIPs were about as effective as the Film/Story MIP without instruction. Induction effects covaried with several study characteristics. Effects tend to be smaller when demand characteristics are controlled or subjects are not informed about the purpose of the experiment. For behavioural measures, effects are smaller than for self-reports but still larger than zero. Hence, the effects of MIPs can be partly, but not fully due to demand effects.     

Designs for evaluating the validity and accuracy of performance ratings

For many jobs, objective measures of performance are not available or are impractical to obtain, such that ratings are the sole source of information. Unfortunately, performance ratings are a distorted source of information. The multitrait-multimethod and person perception designs have been used to investigate the distortions in ratings. The purpose of using these research designs is to isolate the factors that distort the ratings and to use this knowledge to improve the quality of performance ratings. The goal of the present research was to develop a design that combined both the multitrait-multimethod and person perception designs. Each design was discussed, and examples were presented to illustrate that design. The combination design was used to isolate the influence of rater, ratee, and context factors on the quality of performance ratings. Future research was recommended to understand and utilize these factors to improve performance ratings.     

The relative effects on math performance of single- versus multiple-ratio schedules: a case study

This series of four experiments sought to assess the comparative effects of multiple- versus single-ratio schedules on a pupil's responding to mathematics materials. Experiment I, which alternated between single- and multiple-ratio contingencies, revealed that during the latter phase the subject responded at a higher rate. Similar findings were revealed by Exp. II. The third experiment, which manipulated frequency of reinforcement rather than multiple ratios, revealed that the alteration had a minimal effect on the subject's response rate. A final experiment, conducted to assess further the effects of multiple ratios, provided data similar to those of Exp. I and II.     

学会感判断相对精确性的研究范式与指标

学会感削断是个体对正在学或刚学过的材料的学习程度的判断,它是元认知监控的重要形式.本文介绍了学会感判断研究的LJR范式与PRAM范式,分析了学会感判断相对精确性指标Gamma系数及其变式的应用与优缺点,最后针对指标的使用和发展提出了建议.     

Transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic test of their relative validity

This study provided a comprehensive examination of the full range of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership. Results (based on 626 correlations from 87 sources) revealed an overall validity of .44 for transformational leadership, and this validity generalized over longitudinal and multisource designs. Contingent reward (.39) and laissez-faire (-.37) leadership had the next highest overall relations; management by exception (active and passive) was inconsistently related to the criteria. Surprisingly, there were several criteria for which contingent reward leadership had stronger relations than did transformational leadership. Furthermore, transformational leadership was strongly correlated with contingent reward (.80) and laissez-faire (-.65) leadership. Transformational and contingent reward leadership generally predicted criteria controlling for the other leadership dimensions, although transformational leadership failed to predict leader job performance.     

Asymptotic judgment of cause in a relative validity paradigm

We report three experiments in which we tested asymptotic and dynamic predictions of the Rescorla-Wagner (R-W) model and the asymptotic predictions of Cheng's probabilistic contrast model (PCM) concerning judgments of causality when there are two possible causal candidates. We used a paradigm in which the presence of a causal candidate that is highly correlated with an effect influences judgments of a second, moderately correlated or uncorrelated cause. In Experiment 1, which involved a moderate outcome density, judgments of a moderately positive cause were attenuated when it was paired with either a perfect positive or perfect negative cause. This attenuation was robust over a large set of trials but was greater when the strong predictor was positive. In Experiment 2, in which there was a low overall density of outcomes, judgments of a moderately correlated positive cause were elevated when this cause was paired with a perfect negative causal candidate. This elevation was also quite robust over a large set of trials. In Experiment 3, estimates of the strength of a causal candidate that was uncorrelated with the outcome were reduced when it was paired with a perfect cause. The predictions of three theoretical models of causal judgments are considered. Both the R-W model and Cheng's PCM accounted for some but not all aspects of the data. Pearce's model of stimulus generalization accounts for a greater proportion of the data.     

The relative efficacy of avoidant and nonavoidant coping strategies: a meta-analysis

A casual review of the research literature on coping strategies suggests that strategies involving avoidant tactics are effective in reducing pain, stress, and anxiety in some cases, whereas nonavoidant strategies (called here attention), appear to be more effective in others. This article reports the results of a series of meta-analyses to ascertain whether there are systematic patterns in the empirical literature that describe when attention strategies are more or less effective than avoidant strategies. In particular, we consider the role of different kinds of attentional sets and also the role of time--whether some kinds of strategies work best in the early phases of the stress experience, and others are more efficacious in later phases of the stress experience. Results of an overall analysis of studies providing tests of attention versus avoidance indicated little evidence for one strategy's superiority. However, supplementary analyses, motivated by theoretical reasons, suggest there are boundary conditions that define the relative efficacy of a specific strategy. Overall, avoidance was associated with more positive adaptation in the short-run. However, attention was superior to avoidance if the former involved a focus on sensory schemata rather than emotional processing. If attention involved an emotional interpretational set or no explicit set, then it was associated with more negative outcomes than avoidance. In terms of long-term outcomes, avoidance indicates better outcomes initially, but with time, attention was associated with more positive outcomes. A final set of analyses found that both attention and avoidance facilitate adaptation as compared with no instruction controls. The meta-analyses suggest the important role of interpretational set and whether one looks at the immediate or at the long-term effects of coping. Limitations of the analyses and directions for future research are discussed.     

Obtaining the best value for money in adaptive sequential estimation

In [Kujala, J. V., Richardson, U., &; Lyytinen, H. (2010). A Bayesian-optimal principle for learner-friendly adaptation in learning games. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 54(2), 247–255], we considered an extension of the conventional Bayesian adaptive estimation framework to situations where each observable variable is associated with a certain random cost of observation. We proposed an algorithm that chooses each placement by maximizing the expected gain in utility divided by the expected cost. In this paper, we formally justify this placement rule as an asymptotically optimal solution to the problem of maximizing the expected utility of an experiment that terminates when the total cost overruns a given budget. For example, the cost could be defined as the random time taken by each trial in an experiment, and one might wish to maximize the expected total information gain over as many trials as can be completed in 15 min. A simple, analytically tractable example is considered.