A PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: RESEARCH,DESIGN, INTRODUCTION AND EVALUATION1

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze a unique and innovative appraisal and development system. The Performance Management System (PMS) is the formal vehicle used by Corning Glass Works managers to measure and improve the performance and potential for advancement of approximately 3,000 managerial and professional employees. The current design of PMS is the result of several years of research and development work by staff psychologists and personnel specialists at Corning along with applied psychological research conducted in other organizations. PMS is distinguished from most appraisal systems by the following characteristics: (1) Its emphasis on both psychometric accuracy and practical utility; (2) Its emphasis on development as opposed to evaluation; (3) Its use of ipsative measurement; (4) Its integration of results with behavior centered appraisal. This paper is comprised of an introduction, reports on the initial research, the design and introduction, the evaluation and revision of PMS, and an overall summary. The strategies, results, and problems encountered at each phase of PMS development will be described and analyzed.     

Visual short-term memory, response delay, and age

Recall and recognition memory performance of 12 young (M = 19 yr.) and 12 older (M = 72 yr.) females was studied in relation to response delay (5, 25, and 125 sec.) and stimulus complexity (6.1 and 13.7 bits of information). The subjects were matched on verbal IQ, visual acuity, and educational levels. Stimuli were abstract, black and white, 4 X 4 square matrices. Age-related decrements in memory performance were associated with stimulus complexity but not with response delay. Older subjects also reported experiencing encoding difficulties during the registration phase. The results were discussed with reference to the locus of age-related decrements in visual short-term memory.     

Specific and varied practice of motor skill

To assess the potential effect of specific and varied practice on the development of motor schema, 64 children in two age groups (8 yr. and 12 yr.) were tested on a simple throwing task at the beginning and end of a 12-wk. physical education program. For the throwing test the children were assigned to either a specificity or a schema group (varied practice). The task was performed without visual feedback, but knowledge of results was given after each trial. Prior to both tests at the criterion target, the specific group was given practice throws using the criterion target distance, whereas the schema group practiced on two other targets. No differences were found between the two groups at the beginning of the program but on the posttest those children receiving a variety of practice on the throwing task performed significantly better than the specific-practice group. Thus it was suggested that a varied practice schedule may facilitate the initial formation of motor schema, and this process may be enhanced by participation in a physical education program.     

Tests of symmetry in three-way contingency tables

Three-dimensional contingency tables are analyzed, with one variable (e.g., sex) as a factor, and with a natural relation between the other variables (e.g. left and right eye vision). Models of special interest, like symmetry and proportional symmetry between the related variables, and homogeneity across the factor levels, are investigated. Maximum likelihood estimators of parameters and partitions of chi-square goodness-of-fit statistics are explicitly presented; the independence of certain models is noted, and an example is discussed.     

The dimensionality of vocational commitment: An empirical assessment of Ramsay's three-factor model with trainee nurses

The validity of Ramsey's three factor model of vocational commitment – consisting of ego-involvement (ranging from altruism to self-orientation), pre-dispositions, and occupational possibilities – is examined Although no data is provided relevant to the altruism end of the ego-involvement continuum, analyses of data from a sample of trainee nurses indicated that the three measures of self-orientation, predispositions, and occupational possibilities possessed satisfactory internal consistency and discriminant validity, thus providing support for the three-dimensional model.     

Electromyographic indications of laryngeal-area activity during stuttering expectancy

Using surface electrodes, mean microvolt values of laryngeal-area muscle activity were determined for 13 male and 6 female stutterers during 10-sec periods in which single words were silently read and stuttering expectancy was indicated. No significant differences in levels of laryngeal-area muscle activity were found between periods of fluency expectancy and stuttering expectancy preceding both fluent and stuttered speech. The results were interpreted as being nonsupportive of the hypothesis that a breakdown in stutterers' laryngeal-area muscle activity occurs during moments of stuttering expectancy. In addition, the results suggest that the most common rationale for the utilization of laryngeal biofeedback procedures to enhance fluency should be questioned.     

Biasing the development of response topography with nonspecific positive and negative evocative verbal stimuli

Conditioned response (CR) rate and development of CR latency, rise time, and airpuff attenuation were examined for V- and C-form responders using two nonspecific command words, do and don't, as conditioned stimuli (CSs) in single-cue, double-cue, and differential eyelid conditioning. In both single-cue and differential conditioning, regardless of the command word used to signal the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the Vs produced a higher response rate and learned a better UCS-attenuating response topography than the Cs. However, in a double-cue conditioning paradigm in which both command words were presented alone on different trials and reinforced, response latency was longer and puff attenuation poorer among Vs than when the UCS was signaled by a unique cue. In contrast, adding a second reinforced cue actually enhanced the development of puff-avoidant CR topographies among Cs compared to single-cue conditioning. These results and others indicate that response topography development is to some extent a labile process that can be biased toward either good or poor puff-avoidant properties and that the factors responsible for influencing CR topography differ for Vs and Cs.