Work engagement: Further reflections on the state of play

In this article we further reflect on the “state of play” of work engagement. We consider, clarify, and respond to issues and themes raised by eight preeminent work engagement researchers who were invited to respond to our position article. The key themes we reflect upon include: (1) theory and measurement of engagement; (2) state and task engagement; (3) climate for engagement versus collective engagement; (4) the dark side of engagement; (5) where job crafting may go wrong; and (6) moderators of the engagement–performance relationship. We conclude that engagement can sensibly be conceptualized as a positive and high arousal affective state characterized by energy and involvement; that there may be additional dimensions that might usefully be included; that we need to more fully understand the day-to-day and moment-to-moment temporal dynamics and implications of engagement; that a “climate for engagement” will influence individual and organizational outcomes; that although engagement is at heart a positive construct, the “dark side” of engagement needs to be acknowledged and understood; that “job crafting” provides a potentially powerful way for employees to manage their engagement; and that we need to gain a better understanding of the moderators that influence the way that engagement is related to performance. We also outline some practical implications that follow from our conclusions.     

Knowledge of word length does not constrain word identification

Use of word length for word identification was examined in three naming experiments and one sentence reading experiment in which a foveally presented cue either matched or mismatched the length of a subsequently presented target word. Properties of the target were also manipulated so that it was either a high- or low-frequency word or so that its exterior letters were either consistent with a large or small pool of candidate words. The experiments converged in showing that effects of prior word length cuing were either negligible or absent. The word frequency of the target influenced its recognition but not the lexical constraint of its exterior letters. Importantly, effects of target word properties did not interact with effects of prior target length cuing. Together, these results indicate that knowledge of a word's spatial properties does not constrain its lexical processing.     

Use of parafoveally visible characters during the reading of Chinese sentences

Chinese readers' use of parafoveal character previews was examined. In Experiment 1, the preview of target characters consisted of targets or of graphemically similar, homophonic, or dissimilar characters. Each preview was replaced with the corresponding target when the eyes reached the target location. Oculomotor measures revealed preview benefits for targets, for graphemically similar characters, and for homophonic characters. Experiment 2 showed that parafoveal preview of graphemically similar characters yielded benefits primarily when they shared the phonetic radical with their targets. The phonological relationship between previewed radicals and subsequently viewed targets was ineffective. Chinese character processing thus involves the initial use of orthographic information from the phonetic radical and the activation of the character's phonological form.     

Evolutionary sport and exercise psychology: Integrating proximate and ultimate explanations

ObjectivesThis review aims to demonstrate the utility of integrating the insights of evolutionary psychology with sport and exercise psychology. Specifically, we offer a primer on evolutionary psychology that we then discuss in the context of several research avenues in sport and exercise. Next, we discuss how evolutionary psychology can inform our understanding of sporting culture.DesignReview paper.MethodsTheory and research are selectively reviewed in efforts to demonstrate the utility and limits of evolutionary psychology as an approach to sport and exercise psychology.Results and conclusionsEvolutionary psychology offers researchers in sport and exercise psychology an improved capacity to produce proximate explanations (i.e., how psychological mechanisms interact with the environment to produce behavior) by generating productive and novel hypotheses from ultimate explanations (i.e., why a psychological mechanism evolved a particular design; Tooby & Cosmides, 1992, 2005). The worth of integrating proximate and ultimate explanations is demonstrated by the ensuing novel insights of popular avenues of sport and exercise psychology including (a) the interrelation between motivation and reasoning and their relative influence on exercise behavior, (b) sex differences in sport participation, (c) performance in sport, and (d) group dynamics in sport. Unlike specific fields of psychology, evolutionary psychology is a metatheoretical approach that can foster mutually productive linkages between currently disparate areas within sport and exercise psychology, and with neighboring disciplines.     

When obvious covariations are not even learned implicitly

The present experiments examine the impact of covariation type and attention on implicit covariation learning. Experiments 1 and 2 compare learning of stimulus–stimulus (s–s) and stimulus–response (s–r) covariations. Although stimuli and responses were predicted by a distinct feature of the display, implicit learning neither of s–s nor of s–r covariations was observed. Experiments 3–5 explore the impact of attention on implicit learning of an s–r covariation. Distinct features either of the targets or of an incidental but centrally presented object predicted the responses. Implicit covariation learning was restricted to predictors that were part of to-be-attended targets. Finally, Experiment 6 shows implicit learning of a partial s–r covariation in which only one of two responses is predicted by target features. It is argued that implicit learning is based on the formation of associations between simultaneously activated distinct representations. Because only attended stimuli seem to reach a sufficient level of mental distinctiveness, attending the predictive information most likely is an indispensable prerequisite for implicit covariation learning to occur.     

Attention allocation to the right and left of a fixated word: Use of orthographic information from multiple words during reading

Eye movement contingent display changes were used to manipulate the information to the right of a fixated target in one experiment and to its right and left in a second experiment. Experiment 1 showed large increases in target viewing duration when orthographically illegal information was visible to the right of the target. Experiment 2 yielded smaller effects of orthographically illegal information in the parafovea on target viewing. Experiment 2 also showed that readers obtained useful information to the right of a fixated target irrespective of the type of information that was visible to the target's left. These results indicate that orthographic information is obtained from more than one word prior to saccade programming, and that the processing of orthographic information to the right and left of a fixated target is functionally independent.     

The Fluency Amplification Model: Fluent stimuli show more intense but not evidently more positive evaluations

Processing fluency plays a large role in forming judgments, as research repeatedly shows. According to the Hedonic Fluency Model, more fluently processed stimuli are rated more affectively positive than less fluently processed stimuli. Most research documenting such findings uses neutral or positive stimuli with low complexity, thus any potential impact of initial stimulus valence cannot be tested. In the present study, 60 IAPS stimuli ranging from very negative to very positive valence were rated on liking by participants. Processing fluency was manipulated through perceptual priming (7 ms). Results of Experiment 1 (N = 35) support the prediction of the Hedonic Fluency Model, but only for stimuli with an initially positive valence. However, when negative stimuli were processed more fluently, they were rated as more negative than when processed less fluently. Experiment 2 (N = 39) showed that enhancing the accessibility of the stimulus content (via prolonging the prime duration to 100 ms) cannot account for the results of Experiment 1, since Experiment 2 failed to replicate the findings obtained in Experiment 1. Potential factors influencing affective evaluation of negative stimuli are discussed. A model is offered for the reinterpretation of processing fluency as an amplifying factor for evaluative judgment.     

The influence of response-effect compatibility in a serial reaction time task

Participants performed a serial reaction time task, responding to either asterisks presented at varying screen locations or centrally presented letters. Stimulus presentation followed a fixed second-order conditional sequence. Each keypress in the experimental groups produced a contingent, key-specific tone effect. The critical variation concerned the mapping of tones to keys. In Experiment 1, keypresses in one control condition produced noncontingent tone effects, while in another control condition there were no tone effects. In Experiment 2, three different key-tone mappings were compared to a control condition without tone effects. The results show that tone effects improve serial learning when they are mapped to the response keys contingently and in a highly compatible manner. The results are discussed with reference to an ideomotor mechanism of motor sequence acquisition.