Syndromes of retrograde amnesia: a conceptual and empirical synthesis

This article attempts a synthesis of the range of disorders that have been subsumed under the rubric of retrograde amnesia. At a functional level, it is possible to make distinctions between various forms of retrograde amnesia, including a distinction between episodic amnesia for personally experienced events and semantic retrograde amnesia for components of knowledge, such as those relating to people and events. At an anatomical level, discrete lesions to limbic-diencephalic structures usually result in a limited degree of retrograde amnesia. Marked episodic or marked semantic retrograde amnesia is usually associated with significant involvement of cortical and neocortical structures. Retrograde amnesia is a functionally heterogeneous rather than a unitary phenomenon. Discontinuities and dissociations found in published studies point to the potential fractionation of retrograde amnesia into component disorders, each with its own neural profile.     

Stimulus-response compatibility and the Simon effect: toward a conceptual clarification.

The current view that the Simon effect (Simon & Small, 1969) reflects stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) is questioned. Previous accounts of the Simon effect have overlooked stimulus congruity (SC), the correspondence relation borne by the two simultaneous aspects of the stimulus, a factor inevitably confounded in the Simon paradigm with irrelevant spatial S-R correspondence. The Hedge and Marsh (1975) reversal effect, replicated in Experiment 1, is reinterpreted as decisive evidence that the Simon effect is entirely accounted for by SC. Furthermore, in Experiment 2 irrelevant S-R correspondence was manipulated in the absence of any variation of SC, and the Simon effect vanished. It is concluded that the Simon effect, contrary to current opinion, represents a spatial variant of the Stroop effect and is irrelevant to the SRC issue. The view that mental operations proceed automatically at the stage of response determination loses one of its strongest empirical arguments.     

The role of goal specificity in the goal-setting process

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between goal specificity and task performance, with specificity operationalized as a continuous quantitative variable reflecting the range of performance levels individuals chose as their personal goals. It was hypothesized that, controlling for goal difficulty, specific personal goals would be associated with higher levels of task performance. It was also hypothesized that task strategy would mediate the relationship between goal specificity and performance and that specific goals would be associated with smaller goal-performance discrepancies. The results from a sample of 162 college students working on an eye-hand coordination task supported the hypothesis concerning goal-performance discrepancies. They hypotheses regarding task strategy and the relationship between goal specificity and performance were supported only on the second of two trials.     

Employee commitment and motivation: a conceptual analysis and integrative model

Theorists and researchers interested in employee commitment and motivation have not made optimal use of each other's work. Commitment researchers seldom address the motivational processes through which commitment affects behavior, and motivation researchers have not recognized important distinctions in the forms, foci, and bases of commitment. To encourage greater cross-fertilization, the authors present an integrative framework in which commitment is presented as one of several energizing forces for motivated behavior. E. A. Locke's (1997) model of the work motivation process and J. P. Meyer and L. Herscovitch's (2001) model of workplace commitments serve as the foundation for the development of this new framework. To facilitate the merger, a new concept, goal regulation, is derived from self-determination theory (E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 1985) and regulatory focus theory (E. I. Higgins, 1997). By including goal regulation, it is acknowledged that motivated behavior can be accompanied by different mindsets that have particularly important implications for the explanation and prediction of discretionary work behavior.     

Deviance and the neutralization of moral commitment: An empirical analysis

Neutralization theory was proposed by Sykes and Matza (1957) as a theory of juvenile delinquency. Its major propositions are: (1) Delinquents maintain moral commitment to conventional norms, and (2) the ability to neutralize moral commitment facilitates juvenile delinquency. The present research attempts to evaluate neutralization theory for predicting variation in self‐reported expected illegal behavior in a random sample of 350 adults. Data analysis indicates that (1) neutralization is conceptually and empirically distinct from moral commitment, and (2) the interaction between moral commitment and neutralization significantly explains expected involvement in future deviance.     

Civil commitment: A review of empirical research

This article presents a comprehensive review of empirical micro-level research which has attempted to evaluate changes in civil commitment law in the United States. It groups studies by category of the general question they address: Who are being processed through civil commitment and who are being committed? How dangerous are civil commitment candidates on admission, in the hospital, and after release? To what extent are court officers adhering to procedural protections in form and in intent? To what extent have restrictive criteria influenced the behavior of medical professionals in processing individuals through civil commitment? and What happens to individuals after their civil commitment experience and their involuntary hospitalization? The article points to needed research and concludes by summarizing existing research from the perspective of finding a balance between civil liverty and benevolence.     

Just teasing: a conceptual analysis and empirical review

Drawing on E. Goffman's concepts of face and strategic interaction, the authors define a tease as a playful provocation in which one person comments on something relevant to the target. This approach encompasses the diverse behaviors labeled teasing, clarifies previous ambiguities, differentiates teasing from related practices, and suggests how teasing can lead to hostile or affiliative outcomes. The authors then integrate studies of the content of teasing. Studies indicate that norm violations and conflict prompt teasing. With development, children tease in playful ways, particularly around the ages of 11 and 12 years, and understand and enjoy teasing more. Finally, consistent with hypotheses concerning contextual variation in face concerns, teasing is more frequent and hostile when initiated by high-status and familiar others and men, although gender differences are smaller than assumed. The authors conclude by discussing how teasing varies according to individual differences and culture.     

Moderator variables: A clarification of conceptual,analytic, and psychometric issues

A distinction is drawn between the degree of relationship between two variables X and Y and the form of the relationship between the same variables. The correlation coefficient r_xy is the index of degree of relationship, while the regression coefficient B_yx is the index of the form of relationship. If both the form and degree are constant across values of some third variable Z, the X − Y relationship is constant or unconditional with regard to Z. If the degree of relationship varies with values of Z, Z is said to “moderate the degree” of the X − Y relationship. If the form of relationship varies with values of Z, Z is said to “moderate the form” of the relationship. The separate statistical tests which are required to test for each type of moderator variable are outlined. Hierarchical multiple regression is the appropriate method to test for different forms of relationship, but not for different degrees of relationship. The differing substantive implications and interpretation of the two types of moderated relationships are discussed. Finally, the effects of unreliability of measures on the power of tests to detect differing forms and degrees of relationships are outlined and demonstrated.     

Kinetic output: A conceptual, dimensional and empirical analysis

A dimensional analysis permitted behavioral frequency, duration and available time to be collapsed into a singular dimensionless expression called Kinetic output (K(o)). An empirical analysis across several behaviors in some human subjects showed that the derived index of behavioral output, K(o), was more likely to exhibit less variability than rate or duration measures of the behavior. As a reduction in variability is synonymous with finding an increased order, the results tentatively support the notion that behavior may exhibit conformity at a previously undetected level. One major implication of the K(o) formulation is that divergent frequency and duration performances are interpretable as reflecting alternate forms of the same equivalence.     

The grateful disposition: a conceptual and empirical topography.

In four studies, the authors examined the correlates of the disposition toward gratitude. Study I revealed that self-ratings and observer ratings of the grateful disposition are associated with positive affect and well-being, prosocial behaviors and traits, and religiousness/spirituality. Study 2 replicated these findings in a large nonstudent sample. Study 3 yielded similar results to Studies I and 2 and provided evidence that gratitude is negatively associated with envy and materialistic attitudes. Study 4 yielded evidence that these associations persist after controlling for Extraversion/positive affectivity. Neuroticism/negative affectivity, and Agreeableness. The development of the Gratitude Questionnaire, a unidimensional measure with good psychometric properties, is also described.     

The psychoanalytic process: motives and obstacles in the search for clarification

One motive for regarding psychoanalysis as a "process," and for attempting to define its exact nature, is to enable analysts to clarify their criteria for distinguishing authentic psychoanalysis from other therapies that resemble it or are derived from it. In the present climate of theoretical pluralism, any list of defining qualities that could win wide acceptance would of necessity be cast in terms of such general quality as to limit its utility as a precise template. Another motive for holding on to the "process" concept arises from the unpredictable nature of analytic progress in even the most satisfactory cases.     

Manipulation and force as sexual coercion tactics: conceptual and empirical differences

This study examines the relationship between perpetrator characteristics, situational characteristics, and type of sexual coercion tactics used to obtain sexual contact (including sexual intercourse) with an unwilling partner. Men who used manipulation or force were compared to each other and to men who engaged in only consensual sex. Participants were college men drawn from the first wave of a 5-year longitudinal study. Stepwise discriminant function analyses, univariate analyses of variance (ANOVA), and chi(2) analyses tested group differences. As predicted, men who used force reported more childhood sexual abuse, witnessed more domestic violence, were more accepting of male violence, and were less likely to endorse love as a motive for sex than men in both the manipulation and consent groups. Men in the force group were also more likely to have had a casual relationship with the woman, and to be drinking and also intoxicated during the coercive incident than men in the manipulation group. Hypothesized differences between men who used force and manipulation regarding parental physical punishment, traditional gender role attitudes, delinquency, hedonistic and dominance motives for sex, prior sexual contact, and the length of the relationship were not supported. The results suggest that types of tactic used in sexual assaults can be distinguished on the basis of person and situational variables and that knowledge of these differences can facilitate future research, as well as rape deterrent and intervention programs.     

Enhancing the informed consent process: a conceptual overview

Concern about limitations in the ability to give valid informed consent among certain groups of individuals has led to increased interest in defining, measuring, and enhancing consent-related decision-making. In this overview, we summarize issues related to the definition of decision-making capacity, discuss methods that have been used to assess decision-making abilities and other aspects of informed consent, and briefly describe studies that aim to understand variation in different elements of informed consent. We then review strategies that have been used with the intent of improving aspects of the informed consent process. Finally, we provide an outline of areas that are in need of future studies in order to reach the ultimate goal of preserving as much autonomy as possible in at-risk populations, while still achieving valuable research and treatment goals.     

Attachment theory within clinical supervision: application of the conceptual to the empirical

Attachment theory, which has demonstrated application in caregiver-child, romantic, and psychotherapeutic relationships, also appears to be supervision relevant. But bad blood between attachment theory and psychoanalysis may well have hampered considering the relevance of attachment theory for psychoanalytic supervision. This project sought to investigate the application of attachment theory to the supervision situation, with the potential implications of our findings for psychoanalytic supervision being considered. Attachment styles, leader–follower dynamics, and attachment-based expectations were explored as predictors of supervisor-trainee working alliance using a prospective, longitudinal study design. Findings revealed the importance of measuring supervision-specific attachment, the particularly problematic nature of supervisee avoidant attachment, and the potential contribution of a leader–follower framework for understanding supervisory attachment. These attachment concepts may well be useful in, and additive for, psychoanalytic supervision practice.     

Comprehensive versus matched psychosocial treatment in the MTA study: conceptual and empirical issues

Addressed some factual inaccuracies and presented alternative positions on key issues raised in the article by Greene and Ablon (this issue) on the question, "What does the Multimodal Treatment Study (MTA) tell us about effective psychosocial treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?" The Greene and Ablon critique does not present for the reader's consideration the full range of findings from the MTA study, notably those most relevant to psychosocial treatment, and articulates a theoretical position that effective treatment requires matching treatment to children's assessed needs, an approach not taken in the MTA study. In this article, I present the full range of findings from the MTA study related to psychosocial treatment effects, correct the misperceptions that exist about the study based on limited reviews such as Greene and Ablon's, and review the empirical and experimental design issues that produced the decision by the MTA investigative team to study the effects of intensive, comprehensive psychosocial treatment. I argue that the questions asked by the MTA study about psychosocial treatment were important, relevant, and were addressed well in the MTA study design.     

University students' academic performance: An integrative conceptual framework and empirical analysis

Background. The prediction and explanation of academic performance and the investigation of the factors relating to the academic success and persistence of students are topics of utmost importance in higher education. Aims. The main aim of the present study is to develop and test a conceptual framework in a university context, where the effects of achievement goals, self‐efficacy and class size on academic performance are hypothesized to be direct and indirect through study strategies. Sample. Participants were 553 students of different faculties from a university in Spain. Method. Pre‐existing scales were used to develop the questionnaire. Questionnaires were group‐administered in 21 classes during the first 2 weeks of May (i.e. about 1 month before the final examination). At the end of the academic year, students' grades were obtained from professors of each course. Results. Data were analysed through structural equation modelling. The results of the structural model provided support for most of the hypothesized relationships. Achievement goals and self‐efficacy had no direct effects on performance, but results from the model comparison suggested that a mediational model provided a better fit to the data. Conclusions. Our study provides support for the key mediational role of study strategies in the effect of achievement goals and self‐efficacy on academic performance. Self‐efficacy seems to have the strongest indirect effect on performance. Mastery goals play a key role increasing deep processing and effort, and in turn affecting performance. Academic performance tends to diminish with increasing class size.     

Career adaptivity,adaptability, and adapting: A conceptual and empirical investigation

The literature on career adaptation is vast and based on a range of different measurement approaches. The present paper aims to explore how different operationalizations of career adaptability in terms of concern, control, curiosity, and confidence are related from a conceptual and empirical standpoint. Based on a cross-sectional analysis with 1260 German university students, we established that the adaptability resources of concern, control, curiosity, and confidence are significantly related to, but empirically distinct from, measures representing adapting in terms of career planning, career decision-making difficulties, career exploration, and occupational self-efficacy. In a follow-up survey six months later, we found that the career adaptability dimensions partially mediated the effects of adaptivity (i.e., core self-evaluations and proactivity) on planning, decision-making difficulties, exploration, and self-efficacy. Interestingly, in both analyses, there was no clear match between adaptability resources and theoretically corresponding aspects of career adapting in terms of behaviors, beliefs, and barriers. The results suggest that psychological career resources in terms of concern, control, curiosity, and confidence partially mediate the effects of more context-general, trait-like adaptivity on different career-specific behavioral forms of adapting.     

Diagnosing organizational cultures: A conceptual and empirical review of culture effectiveness surveys

This review traces the development of survey research methods within the organizational culture tradition and focuses specifically on those instruments that measure the aspects of culture that are related to organizational effectiveness. Our review suggests that the reliability and validity of most instruments in this category is quite limited. This review outlines the recommended logic for the development and validation of culture effectiveness surveys and identifies three key challenges for future culture researchers to address: (1) the confirmatory testing of nested models, (2) the guidelines for aggregating data to the organizational level, and (3) the establishing of criterion-related validity. Using data from the Denison Organizational Culture Survey, we present an empirical illustration of the three challenges identified above and conclude by considering limitations and opportunities for future research.