The impact of event vividness,event severity,and prior paranormal belief on attributions towards a depicted remarkable coincidence experience: Two studies examining the misattribution hypothesis

Two studies examine the impact event vividness, event severity, and prior paranormal belief has on causal attributions for a depicted remarkable coincidence experience. In Study 1, respondents (n = 179) read a hypothetical vignette in which a fictional character accurately predicts a plane crash 1 day before it occurs. The crash was described in either vivid or pallid terms with the final outcome being either severe (fatal) or non‐severe (non‐fatal). Respondents completed 29 causal attribution items, one attribution confidence item, nine scenario perception items, a popular paranormal belief scale, and a standard demographics questionnaire. Principal axis factoring reduced the 29 attribution items to four attribution factors which were then subjected to a 2 (event vividness) × 2 (event severity) × 2 (paranormal belief) MANCOVA controlling for respondent gender. As expected, paranormal believers attributed the accurate crash prediction less to coincidence and more to both paranormal and transcendental knowing than did paranormal sceptics. Furthermore, paranormal (psychokinesis) believers deemed the prediction more reflective of paranormal knowing to both (1) a vivid/non‐fatal and (2) a pallid/fatal crash depiction. Vividness, severity, and paranormal belief types had no impact on attribution confidence. In Study 2, respondents (also n = 179) generated data that were a moderately good fit to the previous factor structure and replicated several differences across attributional pairings albeit for paranormal non‐believers only. Corresponding effects for event severity and paranormal belief were not replicated. Findings are discussed in terms of their support for the paranormal misattribution hypothesis and the impact of availability biases in the form of both vividness and severity effects. Methodological issues and future research ideas are also discussed.     

Internet Recruitment and Selection: Kissing Frogs to find Princes

The Internet has already had a dramatic impact on the way in which recruitment and selection are carried out in North America, and the impact is increasingly being felt in terms of changes in practice in Europe and Asia-Pacific. The paper presents a picture of the current development of the Internet as a medium in general and as a recruitment and selection medium in particular. The new medium has enabled the widespread adoption of computer-based assessment and it is predicted that it will replace paper as the default medium before very long. A range of issues are raised and discussed. These include security, confidentiality, authentication, control of assessment conditions, control over practice and equality of access. It is argued that as the second generation of users takes over from the first generation, so inequality of skill and access are becoming less and less of an issue. Finally, some potential areas of abuse of the system are noted and a call is made for the development of international standards to protect the rights and interests of test providers, test users and test takers.     

中学生生活满意度的跨文化比较研究

目的:比较不同国家(地区)中学生生活满意度的差异。方法:运用《多维学生生活满意度量表》对爱尔兰、美国、高加索、以色列、中国五个国家(地区)共计1345名中学生的生活满意度进行了测量。结果:(1)五国(地区)中学生高一般生活满意度组人数分布百分比由多到少依次为爱尔兰、美国、高加索、以色列、中国;(2)五国(地区)女生的家庭满意度高于男生,男生的学校满意度高于女生;(3)爱尔兰学生的家庭满意度最高,中国学生的朋友和学校满意度最高,以色列学生的生活环境满意度最低、自我满意度最高;(4)性别和国家(地区)对中学生的学校、生活环境、自我的满意度存在交互作用。结论:不同国家(地区)中学生的生活满意度存在差异,社会文化背景是影响中学生生活满意度的重要因素。     

Online Testing: Mode of Administration and the Stability of OPQ 32i Scores

This study explores the equivalence of web‐based administration with no local supervision and traditional paper‐and‐pencil supervised versions of OPQ32i (the ipsative format version of the Occupational Personality Questionnaire). Samples of data were collected from a range of client projects and matched in terms of industry sector, assessment purpose (selection or development) and candidate category (graduate or managerial/professional). The analysis indicates that lack of local supervision in high‐stakes situations has little if any impact on scale scores. At worst, some scales appear to show shifts of less than quarter of an SD, with most scales showing little change, if any. Analyses in terms of the Big Five show differences of less than .2 of an SD. Scale reliabilities and scale covariances appear to be unaffected by the differences between the supervised and unsupervised administration conditions.     

Assessment in Organisations

Cet article aborde les pratiques actuelles et les tendances émergentes de l’évaluation dans les organisations. Une attention particulière est accordée a l’évaluation en vue du recrutement et de la selection, là où l’apparition de la méta‐analyse a fondamentalement changé la conception que l’on pouvait avoir des tests psychologiques et autres techniques de sélection. On analyse aussi l’impact d’Internet sur les pratiques de sélection. En ce qui concerne l’évaluation post‐embauche, l’obligation pour les organisations d’assumer des changements rapides est raportée à l’importance de la modélisation des compétences. Quelques points‐clés de l’évaluation post‐embauche sont passés en revue (leadership, feedback à 360°). Des perspectives pour la nouvelles recherches sont esquissées; il s’agit de créer des théories et des modèles plus pertinents, mais aussi de progresser dans les études de validitéà partir les données existantes. Finalement, on s’aperçoit que l’essentiel de la littérature actuelle s’appuie sur des recherches réalisées aux Etats‐Unis, un peu au Royaume Uni ou dans d’autres pays d’Europe. Beaucoup de ces recherches sont limitées dans leurs possibilités d’application en ce sens qu’elles ont été men?es sur de grandes organisations. On insiste sur le manque de travaux interculturels et sur la nécessité de s’intéresser à l’ensemble des organisations de travail (des grandes aux petites, des enterprises locales aux multinationals, aux secteurs public et privé). The article considers current practice and merging trends in assessment in organisations. Particular attention is paid to assessment for recruitment and selection, where the use of meta‐analysis techniques has radically changed the way in which psychological tests and other selection techniques are viewed. The impact of the Internet on selection practice is also discussed. For post‐hire assessment, the impact of the need for organisations to undergo rapid change is considered in relation to the importance of competency modelling. Some key areas (leadership, 360‐degree feedback) of post‐hire assessment are reviewed. Issues for future research are outlined. These include the need for better theory and models, together with the need to move ahead of a reliance on old data sets. Finally, it is noted that much of the current literature is based on research in the United States (with some from the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe). Much of the research is also limited in applicability in that it is based on large organisations. The need for more cross‐cultural studies and the need to cover the full range of work organisations (large to small; local to global; private to public sector) is emphasised.     

Target-directed visual attention is a prerequisite for action-specific perception

Witt et al. (2008) have recently shown that golfers who putt with more success perceive the hole to be bigger than golfers who putt with less success. In three experiments, we systematically examined whether this phenomenon, labelled action-specific perception, depends on directing visual attention towards the action target. In Experiment 1 we replicated previously reported action-specific effects on perception in golf putting. In 3 and 4 we directly assessed whether action-specific effects on perception in golf putting are dependent on focusing visual attention on the target. To this end, the participants performed the putting task while visual attention towards the target was either completely withheld (Experiment 2) or divided over the target and other task-relevant objects (Experiment 3). No action-specific effects were found when visual attention towards the action target was occluded or partially diverted from the target. Together, our results provide evidence to suggest that focusing visual attention on the target while performing the action is a prerequisite for the emergence of action-specific perception.     

Coherent career practice

Coherent career practice is conceptualized as an integrated reciprocal system involving 4 core elements: career literacy, career gumption, career context, and career integrity. Within this framework, clients are clients because 1 or more of the elements is either poorly developed or disconnected from the others.     

The human Müller-Lyer illusion in goalkeeping

We examined whether a goalkeeper can influence a penalty-taker's actions by assuming postures that mimic Müller-Lyer configurations. The results of two studies indicate that (i) goalkeeper posture affects the perception of the goalkeeper's height in a manner consistent with the Müller-Lyer illusion; (ii) this influences penalty-taking accuracy; and (iii) a posture which resembles a wing-out Müller-Lyer configuration results in wider and lower throws.     

Putting Values into Practice: Public Policy and the Future of Mental Health Consumer-run Organizations

The purpose of the paper is to reflect on value dilemmas in mental health consumer-run organizations and to discuss implications for research, policy, and practice. We review the roots of consumer-run organizations in the self-help movement and the psychiatric survivor liberation movement, focusing on the distinctive values espoused by consumer-run organizations. We also discuss evidence-based and value-based approaches to mental health policy formulation and mental health reform, noting the particular importance of value-based approaches and the role that consumer-run organizations can play in mental health reform. Based on our experiences conducting a participatory action research study of four mental health consumer-run organizations, we identify and examine several value dilemmas, discuss the lessons that we learned about these value dilemmas, and note their implications for future directions in research, policy, and practice.