Conflicts with Friends: A Multiplex View of Friendship and Conflict and Its Association with Performance in Teams

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, multiplex social networks research, and the emerging conflict involvement perspective, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a multiplex view of conflict that explicitly accounts for the nature of the social relationships between those involved in intrateam conflict and how these multiplex relationships differentially impact team performance. Data were collected from 120 teams engaged in a 4-month business simulation. Relationship conflicts occurring among team members who are friends have a negative impact on team performance, whereas those occurring between non-friends have a positive impact on team performance. Although we also find non-friend task conflicts to be beneficial for team performance, friend task conflicts have no impact on team performance. This study highlights the dark side of workplace friendships and admonishes managers to pay close attention not only to conflicts among employees, but also to the relational closeness of those involved in conflict. The current study provides empirical support for the emerging conflict involvement perspective by explicitly assessing the number of individuals involved in conflict as well as the type of relationships between them. We also extend research on multiplex relationships from the individual to the team level of analysis. Finally, we respond to calls for studies of multiplexity that include both positive and negative relationships.     

The New Learning Environment and Adult Developmental Needs

The link between an adult's learning capabilities and an organization's learning and adaptation is highlighted in this study of workers in a new training program. Studies have found that worker productivity differences are rooted in psychological factors. The most successful firms have supportive workplace psychologies that foster perspective transformation, yield high productivity, high involvement, high job satisfaction, low cost, and high profits. This study suggests the importance of workers having a whole-organization perspective. The findings of this study are generalizable to other organizations making the transition from training to learning in which individuals learn to continuously grow, develop, and problem solve to the benefit of all.     

Super-learning of Causal Judgements

In three experiments, participants learned which of a variety of foods were capable of causing an allergic reaction in a hypothetical patient during training in which a compound of a treatment and a target food cue was paired with the reaction. In Experiment 1 the causal ratings of the target cue were increased if the treatment cue was pretrained as a preventative cause of the reaction. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that the magnitude of this superlearning is unaffected by the order of compound and treatment cue training. The final study also showed that forward super-learning is not induced solely by simple exposure to the treatment cue prior to compound training but, rather, depends upon training the treatment cue as a preventative cause, whereas retrospective super-learning may be due merely to exposure of the treatment cue. These results are problematic for contingency-based accounts of causal induction but accord with modified and extended associative theories.     

Cohesion and outcome in short-term psychodynamic groups for complicated grief

This study used two measures of cohesion for the process analysis of 12 short-term, time-limited groups for complicated grief. The measures had similar theoretical definitions but differed in terms of rater source (member vs. observer), measurement score (mean of items vs. global rating), and rating unit (individual vs. group). We examined the relationship between the measures, assessed the development of cohesion over the life of the group, and evaluated each measure's relationship to outcome. A principal components analysis with each measure yielded one cohesion component, which supported a unidimensional model; however, the two cohesion components were independent of each other, which supported a multidimensional model. Repeated measures analyses indicated that observer-rated cohesion developed in a quadratic manner (v pattern) across sessions, while member-rated cohesion developed in a linear manner. The object focus (the group, other members, the therapist) of the members' ratings determined whether cohesion increased or decreased across sessions. No significant relationships between cohesion and outcome were identified. Implications of the findings for the understanding of group cohesion are considered.     

Effects of pyridoxine on dreaming: a preliminary study

The effect of pyridoxine (Vitamin B-6) on dreaming was investigated in a placebo, double-blind study to examine various claims that Vitamin B-6 increases dream vividness or the ability to recall dreams. 12 college students participated in all three treatment conditions, each of which involved ingesting either 100 mg B-6, 250 mg B-6, or a placebo prior to bedtime for a period of five consecutive days. The treatment conditions were completely counterbalanced and a two-day wash-out period occurred between the three five-day treatment blocks. Morning self-reports indicated a significant difference in dream-salience scores (this is a composite score containing measures on vividness, bizarreness, emotionality, and color) between the 250-mg condition and placebo over the first three days of each treatment. The data for dream salience suggests that Vitamin B-6 may act by increasing cortical arousal during periods of rapid eve movement (REM) sleep. An hypothesis is presented involving the role of B-6 in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin. However, this first study needs to be replicated using the same procedures and also demonstrated in a sleep laboratory before the results can be considered certain.     

Neighborhood predictors of hopelessness among adolescent suicide attempters: preliminary investigation

The role of neighborhood factors in predicting hopelessness among adolescent suicide attempters was examined in this study. Forty-eight adolescents who attempted suicide were administered measures of hopelessness and depression. Family socioeconomic status (SES) was calculated based on family demographics and characteristics of neighborhood context were examined using a geocoding software package. Adolescents who lived in neighborhoods with weak social networks reported higher levels of hopelessness, even after controlling for SES and depression. These preliminary findings suggest that environmental context may play a role in the emotional status of adolescents who attempt suicide.     

Effect of a total smoking ban in a maximum security psychiatric hospital

An archival study was performed in a maximum security forensic hospital to evaluate the effects of a total ban on smoking and all tobacco products. One hundred and forty patients were characterized as nonsmokers or light, moderate or heavy smokers. Patient records for the four weeks prior to the ban were compared with their records for the four weeks subsequent to the ban. Numbers of sick calls, total disruptive behaviors and verbal aggression declined markedly and significantly following the ban in those patients previously classified as moderate or heavy smokers. Weight increased significantly, but almost equally regardless of previous smoking status. Patients, and eventually staff, tolerated the smoking ban without significant negative effects. Patients relied very little on treatment modalities to alleviate nicotine withdrawal. Pre-ban apprehension by staff and patients dissipated with time after the smoking ban started.     

The suicidal mode: a cognitive-behavioral model of suicidality

This article discusses the theoretical foundation and potential clinical application of the suicidal mode, a cognitive behavioral theory of suicidality. The model presented represents a specific elaboration of Beck's modal theory of psychopathology. In addition to discussing the fundamental requirements of a theory of suicidality, the theoretical assumptions of the suicidal mode are identified, its component parts defined, its inherent strengths emphasized, and its application in clinical settings detailed. Definition of a modal theory of suicidality represents the growing influence of cognitive-behavioral theory in efforts at psychotherapeutic integration in clinical suicidology.     

Use of a lag differential reinforcement contingency to increase varied selections of classroom activities

The present study evaluated the effects of a lag differential reinforcement contingency on 2 students' activity selections using reversal designs. Results showed that the lag contingency was responsible for promoting increased novel selections, engagement in diverse activities, and greater progress with respect to programmed academic activities.     

Object Exploration and a Problem with Reductionism

The purpose of this paper is to use neuroscientific evidence to address the philosophical issue of intertheoretic reduction. In particular, we present a literature review and a new experiment to show that the reduction of cognitive psychology to neuroscience is implausible. To make this case, we look at research using object exploration, an important experimental paradigm in neuroscience, behavioral genetics and psychopharmacology. We show that a good deal of object exploration research is potentially confounded precisely because it assumes that psychological generalizations can be reduced to neuroscientific ones.