Connect within to connect outside: effect of salespeople's political skill on relationship performance

Scholars have recently explored the effects of salespeople's intraorganizational relationships on salespeople's job-related outcomes. Grounded in social influence theory, we explore the effects of salespeople's intraorganizational skills on salesperson relationship performance. We empirically tested the proposed relationships using the data from a non-Western sales force working with an organization in an emerging economy. The results indicate that salespeople's political skill positively contributes to salespeople's identification with the organization and to creative performance, while strikingly, we also find that salesperson task adaptivity weakens these effects. Moreover, salespeople's identification and creative performance are positively related to customer satisfaction. These findings demonstrate that salespeople's intraorganizational relationships play a key role in enhancing customer satisfaction. In light of these results, we explore implications for marketers and academics and conclude by suggesting directions for further research.     

Olfactory discrimination learning in mice lacking the fragile X mental retardation protein

An automated training system was used to compare the behavior of knockout (KO) mice lacking the fragile X mental retardation protein with that of wild-type (WT) mice (C57Bl/6 strain) in the acquisition and retention of olfactory discriminations. KO and WT mice did not differ in the acquisition of a four-stage nose poke shaping procedure. In two separate experiments, mutant mice required substantially more training to acquire a series of novel olfactory discrimination problems than did control mice. The KO mice required significantly more sessions to reach criterion performance, made significantly more errors during training, and more often failed to acquire discriminations. Both KO and WT mice showed similar error patterns when learning novel discriminations and both groups showed evidence of more rapid learning of later discriminations in the problem series. Both groups showed significant long-term memory two or four weeks after training but WT and KO mice did not differ in this regard. A group of well-trained mice were given training on novel odors in sessions limited to 20–80 trials. Memory of these problems at two day delays did not differ between WT and KO mice. Tests using ethyl acetate demonstrated that WT and KO mice had similar odor detection thresholds.     

Incentivizing physical activity using token reinforcement with preschool children

We combined several single‐subject designs to assess the effects of contingent and noncontingent token reinforcement on moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA) exhibited by 4 preschool‐aged children. Higher overall levels and longer bouts of MVPA reliably occurred when tokens were delivered contingent on MVPA for 3 of the 4 children when compared to baseline (no token) and for 2 of the 4 children when compared to noncontingent‐token conditions. The present study demonstrated that the delivery of tokens contingent on MVPA can increase and maintain MVPA exhibited by preschool‐aged children, resulting in more MVPA than in baseline conditions and conditions in which tokens are awarded without respect to MVPA. These results demonstrate that token economies can be used to increase MVPA and they add to the evidence base supporting the use of token economies to address a range of behavior problems.     

Intrusive images and memories in major depression

Individuals with current major depression were interviewed to investigate the prevalence of distressing intrusive mental imagery among depressed patients and study the phenomenology of these intrusions. Of the 39 currently depressed patients, 17 experienced some form of repetitive intrusive imagery (i.e., either an intrusive memory or image), with intrusive memories being more common than images. The intrusive imagery was experienced as highly uncontrollable and interfered significantly with patients' everyday lives. The intrusions were experienced with a sense of 'nowness', as well as physical and emotional re-experiencing. Despite high levels of re-experiencing, levels of dissociation were very low. The intrusive imagery was in some patients part of a wider network of key defining autobiographical memories, consistent with the idea that it is likely to play a significant role in maintaining the patient's depressive mood. Interventions targeting these intrusions could potentially result in a positive shift in depressed mood.     

The influence of indirect and direct emotional processing on memory for facial expressions

We used the Remember–Know procedure (Tulving, 1985 Tulving, E. 1985. Memory and consciousness. Canadian Psychology, 26: 1–12. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to test the behavioural expression of memory following indirect and direct forms of emotional processing at encoding. Participants (N=32) viewed a series of facial expressions (happy, fearful, angry, and neutral) while performing tasks involving either indirect (gender discrimination) or direct (emotion discrimination) emotion processing. After a delay, participants completed a surprise recognition memory test. Our results revealed that indirect encoding of emotion produced enhanced memory for fearful faces whereas direct encoding of emotion produced enhanced memory for angry faces. In contrast, happy faces were better remembered than neutral faces after both indirect and direct encoding tasks. These findings suggest that fearful and angry faces benefit from a recollective advantage when they are encoded in a way that is consistent with the predictive nature of their threat. We propose that the broad memory advantage for happy faces may reflect a form of cognitive flexibility that is specific to positive emotions.     

On the relative contributions of noncontingent reinforcement and escape extinction in the treatment of food refusal

In the current investigation, we evaluated the relative effects of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), escape extinction, and a combination of NCR and escape extinction as treatment for the feeding problems exhibited by 4 children. For each participant, consumption increased only when escape extinction was implemented, independent of whether NCR was present or absent. These results were consistent with prior research suggesting that positive reinforcement alone is insufficient for increasing consumption, and that escape extinction often is necessary to increase and maintain food acceptance. However, NCR appeared to decrease inappropriate behavior for some participants.     

Cognitions and depressive symptoms among ethnic minority adolescents

Cognitive models have guided effective intervention strategies in the treatment of depression. However, little is known about the cognitive model's relevance in different cultural ethnic groups in the United States. This study examines the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations among cognitive variables and depressive symptoms among African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic adolescents in the United States. Community adolescents (N = 450) ages 14-18 years (African American n = 79; Caucasian n = 273; Hispanic n = 98) provided information regarding their depressive symptoms and cognitions at two surveys, 6 months apart. Self-efficacy, cognitive errors, and hopelessness were associated with concurrent depressive symptoms at baseline. In addition, cognitive errors at baseline, controlling for baseline depressive symptoms and the occurrence of stressful events, predicted depressive symptoms at follow-up. Ethnic differences disappeared when parent education level was controlled. Our findings demonstrate support for the cognitive model of depression across ethnic groups. The importance of controlling for social class when examining ethnic differences in psychological variables is highlighted by our findings.