Feeling Exhausted? Let’s Play – How Play in Work Relates to Experienced Burnout and Innovation Behaviors

Play in work, as one specific type of work designs, is regarded as the possible solution to experienced burnout and could bring the desirable outcomes to organizations. Drawing on Affective Events Theory (AET), we argued that workplace events (such as play) cause emotional reactions on the part of employees (i.e., burnout), which in turn influence workplace attitudes and behaviors (i.e., innovation behaviors). A total of 439 employees completed surveys, and the results showed that play in work positively relates to innovation behaviors. We also examined individual’s attitude toward workplace fun to further understand the impact of individual differences on the relationship between play in work and their feelings and subsequent behaviors. We found that the positive attitude toward fun moderated the indirect relationship between play in work and innovation behaviors via experienced burnout. Based on AET, our results showed that play in work could reduce employees’ experienced burnout which in turn lead to their innovation behaviors. Such an effect of play in work are stronger when an individual has more positive attitude toward fun at work. Practically, it is suggested that play in work would contribute to favorable outcomes in the workplace, but managers should pay attention to individual differences in attitude toward workplace fun to ensure the maximum benefit of play.

     

Monitoring of learning for emotional faces: how do fine-grained categories of emotion influence participants’ judgments of learning and beliefs about memory?

Researchers have evaluated how broad categories of emotion (i.e. positive and negative) influence judgments of learning (JOLs) relative to neutral items. Specifically, JOLs are typically higher for emotional relative to neutral items. The novel goal of the present research was to evaluate JOLs for fine-grained categories of emotion. Participants studied faces with afraid, angry, sad, or neutral expressions (Experiment 1) and with afraid, angry, or sad expressions (Experiment 2). Participants identified the expressed emotion, made a JOL for each, and completed a recognition test. JOLs were higher for the emotional relative to neutral expressions. However, JOLs were insensitive to the categories of negative emotion. Using a survey design in Experiment 3, participants demonstrated idiosyncratic beliefs about emotion. Some people believed the fine-grained emotions were equally memorable, whereas others believed a specific emotion (e.g. anger) was most memorable. Thus, beliefs about emotion are nuanced, which has important implications for JOL theory.     

The effects of video modeling with voiceover instruction on accurate implementation of discrete-trial instruction

The present study replicates and extends previous research on the use of video modeling (VM) with voiceover instruction to train staff to implement discrete-trial instruction (DTI). After staff trainees reached the mastery criterion when teaching an adult confederate with VM, they taught a child with a developmental disability using DTI. The results showed that the staff trainees' accurate implementation of DTI remained high, and both child participants acquired new skills. These findings provide additional support that VM may be an effective method to train staff members to conduct DTI.     

A FURTHER EVALUATION OF PICTURE PROMPTS DURING AUDITORY‐VISUAL CONDITIONAL DISCRIMINATION TRAINING

This study was a systematic replication and extension of Fisher, Kodak, and Moore (2007 ), in which a picture prompt embedded into a least‐to‐most prompting sequence facilitated acquisition of auditory‐visual conditional discriminations. Participants were 4 children who had been diagnosed with autism; 2 had limited prior receptive skills, and 2 had more advanced receptive skills. We used a balanced design to compare the effects of picture prompts, pointing prompts, and either trial‐and‐error learning or a no‐reinforcement condition. In addition, we assessed the emergence of vocal tacts for the 2 participants who had prior tact repertoires. Picture prompts enhanced acquisition for all participants, but there were no differential effects on tact emergence. The results support a generality of the effect reported by Fisher et al. and suggest that a variety of learners may benefit from the incorporation of picture prompts into auditory‐visual conditional discrimination training.     

A comparison of intraverbal training procedures for children with autism

We compared the effectiveness of three training procedures, echoic and tact prompting plus error correction and a cues-pause-point (CPP) procedure, for increasing intraverbals in 2 children with autism. We also measured echoic behavior that may have interfered with appropriate question answering. Results indicated that echoic prompting with error correction was most effective and the CPP procedure was least effective for increasing intraverbals and decreasing echoic behavior.     

Generating and evaluating options for decision making: the impact of sequentially presented evidence

We examined how decision makers generate and evaluate hypotheses when data are presented sequentially. In the first 2 experiments, participants learned the relationship between data and possible causes of the data in a virtual environment. Data were then presented iteratively, and participants either generated hypotheses they thought caused the data or rated the probability of possible causes of the data. In a 3rd experiment, participants generated hypotheses and made probability judgments on the basis of previously stored general knowledge. Findings suggest that both the hypotheses one generates and the judged probability of those hypotheses are heavily influenced by the most recent evidence observed and by the diagnosticity of the evidence. Specifically, participants generated a narrow set of possible explanations when the presented evidence was diagnostic compared with when it was nondiagnostic, suggesting that nondiagnostic evidence entices participants to cast a wider net when generating hypotheses.     

Examination of Peer Rejection and Depressive Symptoms as Mediators of the Link between Rule-Breaking Behavior and Poor Academic Performance

The current study further evaluated the association between rule-breaking behavior and academic performance by examining peer rejection and depressive symptoms as potential mediators of this association. Study hypotheses were examined using a sample of 147 school-age children (54.4% male) ranging from five to 13 years of age (M = 8.22, SD = 1.99). A meditational path model was estimated, and findings suggested that peer rejection mediated the association between rule-breaking behavior and academic performance two months later when also considering the stability of academic performance. That is, high levels of rule-breaking behavior were associated with high levels of peer rejection, which in turn was associated with poor academic performance. Depressive symptoms were not indicated as a mediator of this association. Findings and their implications are discussed.     

Increasing Classroom Compliance: Using a High-Probability Command Sequence with Noncompliant Students

Noncompliance is one of the most problematic behaviors within the school setting. One strategy to increase compliance of noncompliant students is a high-probability command sequence (HPCS; i.e., a set of simple commands in which an individual is likely to comply immediately prior to the delivery of a command that has a lower probability of compliance). Although research has shown this technique to be effective at increasing compliance across various settings and behaviors, most studies have been limited to participants with moderate to severe developmental disabilities. The current study targeted 2 noncompliant elementary-age students within the general education setting. Two teachers were taught to integrate HPCS into ongoing classroom reading instruction and independent seatwork. For both participants, higher percentages of compliance with low-probability commands were displayed during intervention and maintenance phases compared to baseline levels. Results suggest that using an antecedent intervention based on HPCS holds promise for school personnel working with noncompliant students within the general education setting.     

Decreasing Echolalia of the Instruction “Say” During Echoic Training Through Use of the Cues-Pause-Point Procedure

Echolalia is common in children with autism and may interfere with the development of functional language. Given the variety of vocal stimuli included in teaching language to children with autism, it is possible that discrimination between instructions and targeted responses may not always occur. Thus, children may engage in very high rates of echolalia during language training because it is unclear which vocalizations produced by an instructor should be echoed. The cues-pause-point (CPP) procedure has been effective in decreasing echolalia and increasing specific correct responses to unknown questions in adults with intellectual disability. The current investigation applied the CPP procedure to the echoic repertoire with 1 child with autism who consistently echoed the instruction “say” during language training. Results indicated that echolalia of the instruction “say” decreased, and correct responding of the targeted vocalization increased for all targeted words. Implications for the use of the procedure in educational settings are discussed, and areas for future research are provided.     

Pharmaceutical Ethics and Physician Liability in Side Effects

We review Side Effects, a 2013 film involving bioethics, pharmaceuticals, and financial conspiracies. After the main character Emily unsuccessfully attempts suicide, she begins receiving care from a psychiatrist, Dr. Banks. Following numerous events, she is placed on a fictional antidepressant, Ablixa, which leads her to suffer from sleepwalking. During an episode of sleepwalking she commits a serious crime. The film poses an interesting dilemma: How responsible would the physician be in this instance? We analyze this question by applying numerous ethical principles.