Work plan availability and performance: An assessment of task strategy priming on subsequent task completion

The relation of task strategy planning to task performance was explored using a series of laboratory investigations. The first study examined the influence of providing a subject a work strategy and a specific work goal on his or her subsequent performance. A total of 72 subjects participated in a 2 (goal) × 2 (task strategy priming) × 3 (performance period) × 3 (task type) repeated measures, factorial design study. The results demonstrate that task strategy priming and goal setting increase the amount of an individual's planning and directs the type of plan developed. A second study was conducted (n = 90) to further explore the effect of task strategy priming on planning and performance. Taken together, the results of the studies demonstrate that (a) goal setting increases strategic planning, (b) priming influences the amount and type of planning engaged in by an individual, and (c) task performance varies as the result of the type of plan an individual develops. The results are discussed as a means of expanding the use of cognitive constructs in theories of work motivation.     

Observed behaviors during clinical interviews predict improvement in depression

A considerable percentage of depressed patients do not respond to antidepressive treatment. Early indicators of prognosis are needed. The aims of this study are to examine (a) whether the interpersonal behavior of patients and psychiatrist, as assessed by means of direct observation of behavior during a baseline clinical interview, might have predictive value with respect to therapeutic outcome and (b) which predictive potency measures of psychomotor activation, as assessed by less refined methods, such as global clinical judgment, might have. In the analysis used, speech-pause behavior was taken as the basic structure of the interaction. The relations of other behaviors such as looking and hand and head movement with this structure were determined. Evidence is presented that in a group of 31 depressives, improvement after a period of 10 weeks was related to observed behaviors during a baseline interview. The behaviors of the patients are interpreted as relational or nonrelational. The relational behaviors (i.e., looking yesnodding, gesturing) occur less in patients who will improve, whereas the nonrelational behaviors (i.e., intensive body touching, head movements) occur more in these patients. The nonrelational behaviors are presumed to be indicative of the state of arousal. The predictive potency of these variables could not be explained by their relationship with the baseline severity of depression, which in itself also predicted improvement. Moreover, global clinical assessment of psychomotor activation (i.e., retardation and agitation) could not be related to outcome.     

Anger and irrational thought: Questionnaire and interview ratings

From an initial pool of 96 students, 36 subjects were selected based on Novaco Anger Scale scores to form high-, moderate-, and low-anger groups (n=12). They completed self-report questionnaires and participated in a structured interview designed to elicit cognitive and affective responses to hypothetical situations involving interpersonal conflict. High- and moderate-anger groups scored significantly higher than low-anger subjects on a questionnaire measure of irrational thinking. High-anger subjects scored higher than low-anger subjects on general anxiety, suspiciousness, fear of negative evaluation, hostility, and criticism of themselves and others. Interview ratings showed that there were no group differences in self-reports of anger or ability to cope with conflict, yet raters judged high-anger subjects to display more anger than low-anger subjects in their stated response actions. Estimates of coping ability varied inversely with reports of anger experienced. Generally, results support a relationship between irrational thinking patterns and anger in feeling and action. Implications for treatment are discussed.     

Juvenile homicide: The need for an interdisciplinary approach

Most of the empirical literature on juvenile homicide has emerged from the clinical experience of mental health professionals who have diagnosed and/or treated youngsters who killed. After a critical review of this literature, data on 787 juvenile homicide offenders are presented and discussed. These data indicate that intrafamilial killings represent but a small fraction of all homicides perpetrated by juveniles and that there are clear differences between intrafamilial and extrafamilial juvenile homicides.     

An introduction to organic brain syndromes

Organic brain syndromes are of forensic interest for several reasons. First, patients with organic brain syndromes may require judicial determination of competence in any of a number of areas, e.g., testamentary capacity, need for financial guardianship, or competence to make medical decisions. Second, any patient whose mental state is of legal interest will need evaluation for contributing organic factors; uncovering these factors may have considerable medical and legal consequence. Third, the discovery of organic factors may be decisive in the outcome of a judicial proceeding, where “hard” biological data are often accorded more weight, and are thus more persuasive, than “soft” psychological data. This article provides an introductory overview of the organic brain syndromes. For each syndrome, the clinical features are described and are illustrated with a case vignette, the more common etiologies are presented, and selected aspects to the evaluation are highlighted. In addition, since the detectian of malingered mental illness is a key component in many forensic contexts, characteristics are described which help to distinguish actual from malingered mental illness.     

The use of structured multi-domain job analysis for the construction of assessment center methods and procedures

This article addresses the defensibility of the assessment center based on a content oriented validation strategy. One reason for the confusion in this area is the fact that there are no agreed upon methods for constructing the assessment procedures. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to describe how structured multi-domain job analysis information can be used to develop an assessment center which is well grounded with regard to content validity.     

Irrational beliefs in the articulated thoughts of college students with social anxiety

Cognitive conceptualizations of social anxiety emphasize the role of negative self-statements, unrealistic expectations, and irrational beliefs in the development and maintenance of anxiety in social-evaluative situations. Research into these cognitive factors has entailed administration of questionnaires and instructions to subjects to write down their thoughts during a preceding or impending real-life encounter. These methodologies are criticized on several grounds, such as their assessment of abstract, generalized views by the subject of his/her typical way of thinking over a broad range of circumstances; constraints on responses because of experimenter-provided alternatives; and delays between the eliciting events and self-talk such that recall is subject to distortion and forgetting. Reported here is the use of a recently developed paradigm for uncovering thoughts in complex social situations. In the articulated thoughts during simulated situations method, subjects role-play participation in an audiotaped interpersonal encounter and, at predetermined points, verbalize thoughts elicited by a short segment of the fictitious event. The think-aloud data are taped for later content analysis. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between irrational beliefs and social anxiety. Results confirm those of two previous related experiments in that subjects articulated thoughts of greater irrationality when confronted with a stressful social-evaluative situation than with a neutral one. In addition, individuals with a tendency to become anxious in social situations articulated more irrational thoughts than did control subjects, confirming the basic assumption of cognitive-behavioral approaches that certain paterns of unrealistic thinking are associated with psychological distress.     

Multifactor measurement of bodily feelings: Conceptual development,scale construction,and empirical validation

A series of studies is described demonstrating a coherent exploratory and confirmatory factor-analytic approach to the scaling of self-reported bodily feelings. This approach attempts to optimize the orthogonality, parsimony, and meaningfulness of a multifactor inventory. Psychometric properties of the resulting 35-item Bodily Feeling Scale (BFS) are presented and its comparability with other inventories is discussed. A validity study using item-content-based scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory showed both concurrent and discriminative validity of the BFS. Implications for clinical and research utility are discussed.Portions of this research were conducted while the first author was supported by a University Graduate Fellowship awarded by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Vanderbilt University.Professor Nunnally passed away in August 1982. His major contributions to the several stages of this research program are recognized through coauthorship.