Comparison of the factors influencing interviewer hiring decisions for applicants with and those without disabilities

Two studies present an examination of the factors that influence hiring decisions for applicants with, and those without, disabilities in the employment interview. In Study 1, an integrative conceptual model of interviewer hiring decisions was proposed and tested in a field sample of applicants with disabilities. Interviewers provided ratings for 70 unstructured interviews with disabled applicants. Study 2 examined the fit of the model in an independent field sample of interviews with fully-able applicants (n=165). Results supported the model among both groups of applicants. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.This paper has been improved greatly through the suggestions of John Binning, Michael Campion, Robert L. Dipboye, Miles Patterson, and Mark Tubbs, and Lisa Brady and Jennifer Malatesta. Study 1 was partially funded by a grant from the U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Wright State University Office of Disability Services (Theodore L. Hayes, co-Principal Investigator).     

Perceived fairness of biodata as a function of the purpose of the request for information and gender of the applicant

Using a 2×2 experimental design and data from 86 business students, the present study examined the main and interactive effects of the purpose of the request (personnel selection vs. career tracking), and applicant gender (male vs. female) on the perceived fairness of biodata. Results revealed a significant main effect for purpose and a purpose x gender interaction. Implications for the collection of biodata in the personnel selection process are discussed.     

FLUCTUATIONS IN THE TIME REQUIRED FOR ELEMENTARY DECISIONS

Abstract— The nature of reaction time variability is analyzed in a suite of four experiments involving tasks, methodologies, and types of perceptual judgment commonly encountered in cognitive psychology In every case, a substantial fraction of the trial-by-trial variability in reaction time latency is shown to be well described by a particular type of fluctuation known as l/f noise. These results suggest that the time it takes to make and register a speeded decision reflects a kind of dynamic complexity that is seen in natural systems that self-organize at the boundary between order and chaos.     

Book reviews

Enlightenment East and West Leonard Angel, 1994 Albany, State University of New York Press 388 pp.

Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism Bernard Faure, trans, by Phyius Brooks, 1996 Princeton, Princeton University Press 329 pp.

Pāli Buddhism. Curzon Studies in Asian Philosophy Frank J. Hoffman & Deegaixe Mahinda (Eds), 1996 Richmond, Curzon Press xiii + 233 pp., ISBN 0 7007 0359 4, hb £40

Friendship East and West: philosophical perspectives Oliver Leaman (Ed.), 1996 Richmond UK, Curzon Press ix + 288 pp., ISBN 0 7007 0358 6, hb £40

Heidegger's Hidden Sources: East Asian Influences on his work Reinhard May, trans, by GRAHAM PARKES, 1996 London, Routledge xviii+ 121 pp., hb £35.00, pb £11.99

The Social Self in Zen and American Pragmatism Steve Odin, 1996 Albany, SUNY Press xvi + 482 pp., ISBN 0 9714 2492 8, pb $24.95

The Art of living. Aesthetics of the Ordinary in World Spiritual Traditions Crispin Sartwell, 1995 Albany, State University of New York Press xiv+ 163 pp., hb

East‐West Encounters in Philosophy and Religion Ninian Smart & B. Srinivasa Murthy (Eds), 1997 London, Sangam Books xxiii + 411 pp., ISBN 0 8613 2375 0, hb £24.95

Confucianism and Christianity: a comparative study of Jen and Agape Xinzhong Yao, 1996 Brighton, Sussex Academic Press viii+ 164 pp., ISBN 1 8987 2325 7, hb £35 and $55     

Running a counselling project in primary schools: The role of training and supervision

The provision of mental health resources for young children within a school setting is a challenging proposal. An early project by Kolvin et al. (1981) showed the efficacy of a number of interventions for disturbed children selected by assessment criteria. This highlighted the gap between mental health and education. A small-scale project operating in inner London utilizing volunteer counsellbrs is evaluated to examine the training and supervision needs of such counsellors if they are to be used to provide counselling services for children and, at the same time, further their own qualifications.     

EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT HISTORY AND INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PERSISTENCE OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

We examined the effects of three reinforcement histories on the persistence of task engagement by 2 fourth-grade students using a partially counterbalanced ABCDBCD design. In each condition, an experimenter made four student contacts during the first 2 min of each session (reinforcement baseline), followed by an 8-min extinction period. The reinforcement history that contained an instructional control component produced the greatest persistence in student engagement. The applied relevance of instructional control is discussed.     

Using a Narrative Metaphor: Implications for Theory and Clinical Practice

The evolution of family therapy from a cybernetic metaphor to a narrative metaphor has led us to think differently about therapy, about clients, and about ourselves as therapists. In this article we pursue how this different way of thinking has informed a theoretical understanding of a narrative therapy approach and consequently has opened space for different ways of working clinically. We begin by tracing the evolution to narrative; we consider the implications of social constructionism and its political effects; and we complete the discussion by focusing on narrative theory. We then show how the clinical work follows logically and is coherent with the theoretical considerations. We describe, and illustrate with clinical examples, an innovative approach to working with couples and families with adolescents. In this work we pay attention to the larger cultural stories, including gender constructions, and to personal stories that persons have created to make meaning out of their experience as they interact with one another in a reciprocal meaning-making process. Interventions focus on externalizing the problem narrative that is influencing the client(s), mapping the effects of the problem pattern and/or the totalizing view persons might have of others, and creating space for client(s) to notice preferred actions and intentions. Finally, we close the loop by asking questions of ourselves and others about the effects of working from a narrative metaphor.     

A NOTE ON TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL IN THE DELAYED-CUE PROCEDURE: FACILITATION BY AN OVERT DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE

This case study describes initially unsuccessful attempts to use the delayed-cue procedure to teach conditional discriminations to an individual with moderate mental retardation. The task was matching printed-word comparison stimuli to dictated-name sample stimuli. In three experiments, the subject typically waited for the delayed cue unless differential responses to the dictated samples (repeating the sample names) were required. Hence, the study provides an example of a way to make the delayed-cue method more effective. The stimulus control bases for the results are discussed.     

The Effect of Information Format and Performance Pattern on Performance Appraisal Judgments in a Computerized Performance Monitoring Context1

This paper examines how the presentation of computer-monitored performance information affects performance judgments. Two factors were examined: the performance pattern and the information format. In a computer simulation, subjects were responsible for evaluating the performance of a computer-monitored typist. They were assigned to one of three format conditions: a periodic, delayed, or summarized format. The pattern of the typist's performance was also varied: It either improved, worsened, or remained about the same during the simulation. Results indicate that performance pattern affected subjects' ratings of overall performance, performance quality, and performance consistency. Both factors influenced ratings of future performance and recall of specific performance information. Implications of these results for performance appraisals and computerized performance monitoring systems are discussed.