Resume Characteristics as Predictors of an Invitation to Interview

The resume is the first contact between an organization and a job seeker, but little empirical evidence exits to guide resume development. This study examined the impact of resume characteristics on decisions to interview graduates. It was found that resume characteristics provided an advantage in obtaining an invitation to interview.     

Mother–child disputes as arenas for fostering negotiation skills

Valsiner's concepts of the zone of free movement (ZFM) and the zone of promoted actions (ZPA) were applied to mother-child disputes to study how mothers discharge their role as experts in negotiation. Twenty mothers of 3-5-year-olds each reported 20 disputes, 10 in which the mother was making a request and 10 in which she was refusing her child's request. The disputes were analysed sequentially using four models, preservation, copycat, reward/punishment, and provision of a rationale. The results showed that perseveration and copycat models were more likely to apply when there was negative affect. Mother's re-requests fitted the reward/punishment model whereas mother's refusals better fitted the provision of a rationale model. Information from follow-up interviews supported the notion that requests and refusals are being socialized differently. The results imply that, whereas children's requests and refusals are within the ZFM, only their requests are within the ZPA.     

Moving up from the segment: a comment on Aichert and Ziegler's syllable frequency and syllable structure in apraxia of speech, Brain and Language, 88, 148-159, 2004

In a recent article, explore whether apraxia of speech (AOS) can be explained by disruption of the phonetic plans for high frequency syllables. This approach is a hybrid one, combining the notion of a mental syllabary with an explanation that the impairment in AOS results from reduced access to supra-segmental phonetic plans. In this commentary, we explore Aichert and Ziegler's approach and suggest that in testing a hybrid model it is important to be cautious in identifying implications for the two source models.     

The Personality Assessment Inventory Drug Problems Scale: a validity analysis

An analysis of the relationship among the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991, 1996) Drug Problems (DRG) scale scores, the Addiction Severity Index (ASI; McLellan et al., 1992) scores, and urine toxicology reports revealed that the PAI Drug Problem scale scores of 100 substance-using and substance-abusing men and women were distributed in a manner that was in agreement with the guidelines suggested by Morey (1991, 1996) in the PAI manual. There were significant correlations among the PAI DRG scale and the ASI scales related to frequency of use, negative consequences of use, and need and desire for treatment. Overall, higher scores did reflect both more serious involvements with drug use and more serious problems as a consequence of their involvement.     

Hippocampus lesions impair landmark array spatial learning in homing pigeons: a laboratory study

Hippocampal (HF)-lesioned pigeons display impaired homing ability when flying over familiar terrain, where they are presumably relying on a map-like representation of familiar landmarks to navigate. However, research carried out in the field precludes a direct test of whether hippocampal lesions compromise the ability of homing pigeons to navigate by familiar landmarks. To examine more thoroughly the relationship between hippocampus and landmark spatial learning, control, neostriatum-lesioned, and HF-lesioned homing pigeons were trained on two open field, laboratory, conditional discrimination tasks. One was a visual landmark array task, and the other was a room color discrimination task. For the tasks, the correct of three differently colored food bowls was determined by the spatial relationship among a group of five landmarks and room color, respectively. Intact control birds successfully learned both tasks, while neostriatum-lesioned birds successfully learned the landmark array task-the only task on which they were trained. By contrast, HF-lesioned birds successfully learned the room color task but were unable to learn the landmark array task. The data support the hypothesis that homing performance deficits observed in the field following hippocampal lesions are in part a consequence of an impairment in the ability of lesioned pigeons to use familiar visual landmarks for navigation.     

Nicotine and familial vulnerability to schizophrenia: a discordant twin study

Tobacco use is significantly associated with schizophrenia. However, it is not clear if smoking is associated with the illness itself, treatment, or underlying vulnerability to the disease. Smoking was studied in a sample of schizophrenic probands (n = 24), their unaffected co-twins (n = 24), and controls (n = 3,347). Unaffected co-twins had higher rates of daily smoking than controls. Probands and co-twins were more frequently unsuccessful in attempts to quit than controls. Probands reported shaky hands and depression following smoking cessation more often than controls, whereas unaffected co-twins reported difficulty concentrating, drowsiness, nervousness, and headache following smoking cessation more often than controls. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that nicotine use is influenced by familial vulnerability to schizophrenia, not just clinical schizophrenia per se.     

Maternal and Paternal Depressive Symptoms and Child Maladjustment: The Mediating Role of Parental Behavior

This study examined parental behaviors as mediators in links between depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers and child adjustment problems. Participants were 4,184 parents and 6,048 10- to 15-year-olds enrolled in the 1998 and 2000 cycles of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Mothers and fathers self-reported symptoms of depression at Times 1 and 2 and their children assessed parental nurturance, rejection, and monitoring and self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems and prosocial behavior at Time 2. Hierarchical linear modeling showed evidence of mediation involving all three domains of parental behavior. Findings supported the hypothesis that the quality of the child's rearing environment is one mechanism that carries risk to children of depressed parents. Interventions for parents whose symptoms of depression interfere with parenting responsibilities could help reduce the risk of some childhood disorders.     

Web Site Design, Self-Monitoring Style, and Consumer Preference

This study aims to advance understanding of Internet interactions by considering the impact of Web site design and self-monitoring style on consumer preference. Four quasi-commercial Web sites were constructed containing identical information presented via a context-based (animated) or content-based (unanimated) design, and 2 advertisements of either image- or information-oriented style. Using a between-participants design, the study found that all individuals favored context-based over content-based Web site design. Matching advertising appeal to individual self-monitoring needs was found to increase Web site effectiveness of consumer preference for high self-monitors, and within Web site satisfaction and level of persuasion for low self-monitors. Results suggest that to reach their potential as a consumer-sensitive tool, Web sites must be engaging in their design and tailor their communications to accommodate individual differences.