Probabilistic reasoning in a classical logic

We offer a view on how probability is related to logic. Specifically, we argue against the widely held belief that standard classical logics have no direct way of modelling the certainty of assumptions in theories and no direct way of stating the certainty of theorems proved from these (uncertain) assumptions. The argument rests on the observation that probability densities, being functions, can be represented and reasoned with naturally and directly in (classical) higher-order logic.     

Re-examining the relationship between age and voluntary turnover

In their quantitative review of the literature, Healy, Lehman, and McDaniel [Healy, M. C., Lehman, M., & McDaniel, M. A. (1995). Age and voluntary turnover: A quantitative review. Personnel Psychology, 48, 335–345] concluded that age is only weakly related to voluntary turnover (average r = −.08).However, with the significant changes in mobility patterns among employees over the last two decades, the strength of the age–turnover relationship may have changed as well. In a meta-analysis of studies published between 1990 and 2008 (49 studies, N = 71,053), we found that the age–voluntary turnover relationship was in fact stronger (−.14) than what Healy et al. (1995) found. In addition, moderator tests revealed that race, tenure, and education level help explain differences in effect sizes across studies linking age to turnover. That is, the age–turnover relationship is stronger when there are more racial minorities in the sample (−.16), when organizational tenure is higher (−.18), and when education level is lower (−.20). In addition, the relationship is strongest when the timeframe for measuring turnover behavior is 1–2 years and when the research is conducted with U.S. samples.     

Client Adherence to Asian Cultural Values,Common Factors in Counseling,and Session Outcome With Asian American Clients at a University Counseling Center

Based on data from 61 Asian American clients at a university counseling center, the study found that client‐perceived match on client‐counselor belief about problem etiology was related to counselor credibility, empathy, and cross‐cultural competence; the client‐counselor working alliance; session depth; and the likelihood of the client recommending the counselor to another client. An interaction effect showed that both strong match on belief about problem etiology and high client expectation for counseling success were associated with strong client‐counselor working alliance.     

Dynamic Biculturalism: Socially Connected and Individuated Unique Selves in a Globalized World

In an increasingly connected world brought about by globalization, opportunities abound for countries and individuals to become bicultural or multicultural. This paper reviewed experimental studies that were designed to test bicultural Chinese individuals' responsiveness to Chinese and Western culture primes with regard to autobiographical memory, the inclusion of significant others in the self-concept, and how such self-inclusiveness can be revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging of the bicultural brain. Results showed that across all three areas, bicultural individuals resonated to the specific cultural context by displaying their socially connected or individuated unique self in support the 'alternation' model of biculturalism ( LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993 ) and its underlying dynamism.     

EEG alpha reactivity and extraversion-introversion

Spectral characteristics of spontaneous EEG and characteristics of the alpha attenuation response (AAR) induced by acoustic stimulation, were analyzed for two groups of subjects selected on the basis of their scores on the extraversion-introversion scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. While no significant differences were found in basic alpha rhythm, significant differences were manifested in the AAR characteristics. Extraverted subjects habituated to the auditory stimulus while introverts did not. Introverts were generally more responsive to stimulation. The results are discussed in relation to the arousability model proposed by Eysenck and Gray, verifying the relationships with typological dimensions of Superior Nervous Activity, elaborated by the Soviet school.     

Sex bias in visual images evoked by generics: A new zealand study

Male biases are known to exist in the usage, evaluation, and interpretation of masculine generics. This study explored, by means of a tachistoscope, sex-specific biases in visual images evoked by masculine (All men are created equal, At university a student can study whatever he wants) and feminine (The feminists protested outside the town hall, At university a student can study whatever she wants) generics. Photographs of male and female faces were presented in a deliberately ambiguous (subthreshold) viewing field while maintaining the masculine or feminine generic sentence on constant view. It was predicted and found in a sample of 48 university students that if generics invoked sex-specific images, the images would affect the direction in which the viewer would resolve the ambiguous faces, resulting in more reported male faces in the masculine than in the feminine generic condition.Preparation of this article was supported by a New Zealand Social Sciences Research Fund Committee grant (8632/21/24/8604) to S. H. Ng.     

Transactive memory in decision-making teams: implications for team effectiveness

The transactive memory system (TMS) construct is one of the most extended theoretical approaches to understand the role of cognitive processes at group level in the effectiveness of work teams. This study examined the relationships among TMS, performance, satisfaction and functional communication in decision-making teams. 40 four-person teams were asked to suppose they were expert consulting teams advising a fictitious organization on how to solve a problem with their employees. Results showed a mediating effect of TMS on the relationships between functional communication, perceived team performance and satisfaction. Contrary to our expectations, TMSs were not related to performance as evaluated by external raters. These findings suggest the importance of team communication in the formation of TMSs, as well as their implications for the effectiveness of decision-making teams.     

Grouping in short-term memory: do oscillators code the positions of items?

According to several current models of short-term memory, items are retained in order by associating them with positional codes. The models differ as to whether temporal oscillators provide those codes. The authors examined errors in recall of sequences comprising 2 groups of 4 consonants. A critical manipulation was the precise timing of items within the groups, whereby temporal position (time from group onset) and ordinal position (number of items from group onset) were partially unconfounded. Errors that involve items migrating across groups should preserve within-group temporal position according to oscillator models, but should preserve within-group ordinal position according to nonoscillator models. Results from the intergroup errors strongly favored preservation of ordinal rather than temporal position.     

The Eysenckian personality structure: a Giant Three or Big Five model in Hong Kong?

In the last decade, the area of personality measurement has been dominated by three major systems: the Eysenckian Giant Three, the Cattellian sixteen factors and the Big Five. While many of the Cattellian second-stratum factors have been shown to fit the Big Five system, can the factors measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire also be described by the five-factor model? The study reported in this article was designed to determine whether the dimensions measured by a revised Chinese version of the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire would, in a Hong Kong population, replicate the Giant Three or the Big Five and whether there is evidence to support the suggested dual nature of the Extraversion dimension and the Lie scale in this Cantonese-speaking group. A four-factor solution indicated that the data did not support the notion of a Giant Three model plus a Lie scale and lacks clarity. A five-factor solution produced factors that can clearly be labelled Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Sociability, Excitement-Seeking and Agreeableness. Sociability, focusing on meeting people and Excitement-Seeking, which consists of Impulsivity and Liveliness, derive from items in Eysencks Extraversion dimension. The Openness factor of the Big Five system is absent in this population.