Team members’ emotional displays as indicators of team functioning

Emotions are inherent to team life, yet it is unclear how observers use team members’ emotional expressions to make sense of team processes. Drawing on Emotions as Social Information theory, we propose that observers use team members’ emotional displays as a source of information to predict the team's trajectory. We argue and show that displays of sadness elicit more pessimistic inferences regarding team dynamics (e.g., trust, satisfaction, team effectiveness, conflict) compared to displays of happiness. Moreover, we find that this effect is strengthened when the future interaction between the team members is more ambiguous (i.e., under ethnic dissimilarity; Study 1) and when emotional displays can be clearly linked to the team members’ collective experience (Study 2). These studies shed light on when and how people use others’ emotional expressions to form impressions of teams.     

Developing multiple identifications through different social interactions at work

The question of how employees’ identifications with various foci at work (e.g., team, supervisor, or profession) develop and how they can be managed actively still remains largely unanswered. This is surprising, given the previously demonstrated benefits of employees’ identifications for organizational outcomes. Building on the social validation framework, we propose that changes in different social interactions (social support and effective feedback from supervisors and co-workers) over time are apt to socially validate different provisional selves and thereby differentially foster identification with the supervisor, the team, and the profession. In a longitudinal study of 212 apprentices, who are newcomers to both the organization and the profession, we test this idea using latent change scores in a structural equation modelling approach. Supporting our hypotheses, we show that changes in social support from supervisors and co-workers are related to changes in supervisor and team identification. Increased feedback from co-workers, but not from supervisors, predicted increased professional identification.     

Speech perception in preschoolers at family risk for dyslexia: relations with low-level auditory processing and phonological ability

We tested categorical perception and speech-in-noise perception in a group of five-year-old preschool children genetically at risk for dyslexia, compared to a group of well-matched control children and a group of adults. Both groups of children differed significantly from the adults on all speech measures. Comparing both child groups, the risk group presented a slight but significant deficit in speech-in-noise perception, particularly in the most difficult listening condition. For categorical perception a marginally significant deficit was observed on the discrimination task but not on the identification task. Speech parameters were significantly related to phonological awareness and low-level auditory measures. Results are discussed within the framework of a causal model where low-level auditory problems are hypothesized to result in subtle speech perception problems that might interfere with the development of phonology and reading and spelling ability.     

Ambiguity in pictorial depth

Pictorial space is the 3-D impression that one obtains when looking 'into' a 2-D picture. One is aware of 3-D 'opaque' objects. 'Pictorial reliefs' are the surfaces of such pictorial objects in 'pictorial space'. Photographs (or any pictures) do in no way fully specify physical scenes. Rather, any photograph is compatible with an infinite number of possible scenes that may be called 'metameric scenes'. If pictorial relief is one of these metameric scenes, the response may be considered 'veridical'. The conventional usage is more restrictive and is indeed inconsistent. Thus the observer has much freedom in arriving at such a 'veridical' response. To address this ambiguity, we determined the pictorial reliefs for eight observers, six pictures, and two psychophysical methods. We used 'methods of cross-sections' to operationalise pictorial reliefs. We find that linear regression of the depths of relief at corresponding locations in the picture for different observers often lead to very low (even insignificant) R2s. Thus the responses are idiosyncratic to a large degree. Perhaps surprisingly, we also observed that multiple regression of depth and picture coordinates at corresponding locations often lead to very high R2s. Often R2s increased from insignificant up to almost 1. Apparently, to a large extent 'depth' is irrelevant as a psychophysical variable, in the sense that it does not uniquely account for the relation of the response to the pictorial structure. This clearly runs counter to the bulk of the literature on pictorial 'depth perception'. The invariant core of interindividual perception proves to be of an 'affine' rather than a Euclidean nature; that is to say, 'pictorial space' is not simply the picture plane augmented with a depth dimension.     

Die Psychotherapieausbildung aus Sicht der Lehrkräfte

Background

A survey was carried out to ask the trainers and supervisors about their appraisal of the quality of the psychotherapy training and about ways to improve it 10 years after the inception of the “German psychotherapy law”.

Methods

Training institutes provided e-mail addresses and other contact information from over 5,000 trainers. The questioning was carried out mainly by on-line questionnaires and 2,196 data sets were used for analysis.

Results

Trainers showed overall satisfaction with the components of psychotherapy training and the skills of the training candidates. More knowledge transfer in the fields of therapy techniques and case studies and more cooperation with other professional groups were suggested. Trainers acknowledged redundancies between professional training and university studies and observed a heterogeneity of trainees, however, these were mostly considered helpful. Only half of the trainers were subject to evaluation of their work.

Conclusions

The quality of psychotherapy training could be improved by stronger emphasis on practical knowledge. Structural changes should be made to take the problem of redundancies and heterogeneities into account. Regular and continuous evaluation of the training should become an integral part of professional training and the results should have consequences.     

Tactile perception of thermal diffusivity

The thermal diffusivity of an object is a parameter that controls the rate at which heat is extracted from the hand when it touches that object. It is an important feature for distinguishing materials by means of touch. In order to quantitatively describe the ability of human observers to discriminate between materials on the basis of heat extraction rate, we conducted an experiment in which this heat extraction was performed in a controlled way. In different conditions, subjects were repeatedly asked to select from two stimuli the one that cooled faster. The discrimination threshold was around 43% of the extraction rate. A rate that was twice as slow also yielded twice the absolute threshold. When we halved the temperature difference between the beginning and end of the stimulus, the threshold did not change as much. In separate experiments, we investigated the different cues that were available in the stimulus: initial cooling rate and end temperature. Both cues were used for discrimination, but cooling rate seemed to be the most important.     

Accountability and dignity: Ethical issues in forensic and correctional practice

Our aim in the special issue is to address some of the more abstract and fundamental ethical problems evident in the criminal justice system and to inquire into their significance for those individuals who assess and deliver rehabilitation programs to offenders. In order to provide an appropriate theoretical framework for an investigation of ethical concerns in the forensic and correctional practice domains, we first outline an ethical framework that is intended to help practitioners reflect systematically on their practice [Ward, T., & Syversen, K., (2009). Vulnerable agency and human dignity: An ethical framework for forensic practice. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14, 94–105]. Second, we explicitly examine the relationship between two normative frameworks evident within the criminal justice system, punishment and rehabilitation, and inquire into their relationship. Finally, we briefly describe each of the papers comprising the special issue.     

Dominance or prestige: A review of the effects of power poses and other body postures

Research on the effects of body positions has attracted enormous attention in recent years but has been plagued by failed replication attempts. Today, there is some confusion about which effects can be considered reliable. One problem that may have contributed to this confusion is the fact that most previous studies have not clearly distinguished between different types of body positions. We apply the dominance‐prestige framework to distinguish between two types of body positions. On the basis of this reasoning, we argue that research on so‐called power poses in fact has analyzed expansiveness as an indicator of dominance, whereas research on postures has focused on the straightness of the spine, which may be seen as a display of prestige. We review the literature and conclude that there is no clear evidence that short‐term interventions involving body positions affect physiology or behavior. Still, there are effects on actors' self‐perceptions. Repeatedly, studies on power poses have found effects on feelings of power and self‐evaluations, and studies on postures have found effects on emotional experience. However, there is hardly any research that has directly compared the two types of interventions.     

Prosocial tendencies predict friendship quality, but not for popular children

Is prosocial behavior a prerequisite for having good-quality friendships? This study (N = 477, mean age = 12.2 years) examined whether the link between children’s prosocial tendencies and their perceived friendship quality was dependent on children’s level of popularity in the peer group. Children’s prosocial tendencies were assessed both as observed behavior in a standardized setting and as a self-reported predisposition to act in prosocial ways. Across measures, the results showed that prosocial tendencies are associated with higher perceived friendship quality among nonpopular children (i.e., children holding average or lower levels of popularity), but not among popular children. Thus, even if they lack prosocial qualities, popular children are still able to hold good-quality friendships. Popular children may have other compensating characteristics, such as popularity by association, that make them attractive for peers to be friends with.     

Tainted visions: the effect of visionary leader behaviors and leader categorization tendencies on the financial performance of ethnically diverse teams

Despite the increasing prevalence of ethnic diversity, findings regarding its effects on team performance remain contradictory. We suggest that past inconsistencies can be reconciled by examining the joint impact of leader behavior and leader categorization tendencies in ethnically diverse teams. We propose that leaders who exhibit high levels of visionary leader behavior and also have the tendency to categorize their team members into in- and out-groups will facilitate a negative effect of ethnic diversity on team communication and financial performance, whereas leaders who exhibit visionary behaviors but do not tend to categorize will lead ethnically diverse teams to positive outcomes. We find support for these ideas in a study of 100 retail outlets.