Proximal Job Characteristics,Feelings of Empowerment,and Intrinsic Motivation: A Multidimensional Model1

We examined relations between job characteristics, empowerment, and intrinsic motivation among technical and telemarketing workers. Empowerment was conceptualized as a gestalt of 4 psychological dimensions: autonomy, competence, meaningfulness, and impact. It was hypothesized that the various dimensions of empowerment would mediate the relationship between job characteristics, such as feedback and autonomy support, and intrinsic motivation at work. A path analysis supported the hypothesis, revealing that different job characteristics were predictive of different aspects of empowerment, and that aspects of empowerment differentially affected intrinsic motivation. The results point to the value of considering empowerment as a multidimensional construct.     

Atypical Hemispheric Specialization in Intellectual Deficiency

In order to determine the relation between hemispheric specialization for language and intellectual deficiency, two groups of lower-IQ subjects were compared to normal-IQ controls on word-dichotic listening tasks. Two conditions in which stimuli differed by their level of phonological complexity were used. Normal controls showed the expected right-ear advantage in both conditions. Moreover, they showed a greater magnitude of ear difference on the condition requiring higher-order phonological processing. In the mentally deficient group, almost half the subjects exhibited a left-ear advantage and they showed no difference between the two conditions in terms of the magnitude of ear difference. These results point to the presence of atypical hemispheric specialization in mentally deficient subjects.     

The production and recognition of typological argumentative text markers

A series of experiments on children and adults were conducted to define the features and workings of argumentative discourse. Oral and written arguments were analyzed for the complexity of the argument support structure and the presence of typological argumentation markers (certainty modals, value judgments, etc.). Subjects were asked to assess the argumentativity of texts that did or did not contain typical argumentation markers. At about age ten, children can produce and recognize a ‘minimal argumentative structure,’ in which the speaker takes a stance and supports it with text that derives its argumentativity from the presence of this stance). However, full mastery of the negotiation process, that involves acknowledgment of the opponent's stance (generally through the use of counterarguments) is not present before the ages of 15 to 16. The minimal argumentative structure continues to develop with age and gain complexity. Certain situations are more conductive to the production of elaborate argumentative discourse, such as a genuinely controversial topic with an unfamiliar adult addressee whose stance is not known and whose reaction is thus unpredictable. Here speakers produce complex arguments while still leaving room for negotiation. Overall, certain argumentation markers can be identified in all argumentative text. these markers can be used to characterize stages of development of argumentative discourse. A number of issues remain unexplored, including: What other (implicit...) devices do speakers use to convince their audience? Why is the capacity to put argumentation in writing acquired at such a late stage of development?     

The development of a measure to assess vocational maturity in adults with delayed career development

The development and validation of a measure of vocational maturity for educationally and economically “disadvantaged” adults who experience delayed career development is described. The Adult Vocational Maturity Assessment Interview (AVMAI) measures the attitudinal, cognitive, and behavior aspects involved in coping with exploratory and early entrance stage vocational development tasks. The measure employs a structured interview format accompanied by a detailed content scoring manual. It includes 120 items which yield scores for eight scales: Orientation to Education; Orientation to Work; Concern with Choice; Self-Appraisal: Interests and Abilities; Self-Appraisal: Personality Characteristics; Self-Appraisal: Values; Exploring Occupations; and Using Resources. Evidence for the measure's reliability, content, and construct validity is presented by examining the internal consistency of the scales, the reliability of its scoring procedures, its interscale correlations, and its performance in a pretest-post-test experimental situation. Research and counseling uses of the measure are discussed in the context of the need for vocational psychologists to develop and use measures that are appropriate for the specific career development problems of different groups in society.     

On the aims of medicine: Comments on ‘philosophy of medicine as the source for medical ethics’

Health defined as the psychophysiological capacity to act or respond appropriately in a wide variety of situations, is enhanced by many means other than preventing and treating disease and injury. Therefore no choice of a particular medical intervention is likely to maximize health for all people with (or at risk for) a given disease. As a result, if medical practitioners are to be fully competent in the sense of knowing not only how to perform procedures but when and when not to do so, they must be able to support patients (and those who know and care about them) in weighing all of the many factors which bear upon the decision as to which, if any, medical interventions are likely to improve the person's health.     

Chinese participation in the church of Jesus Christ of latter‐day saints (Mormons) in Hong Kong

This paper shows how both intellectual and social factors motivate and sustain Chinese participation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐day Saints (Mormons) in Hong Kong. The data was collected from February 1996 to November 1997. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding how Chinese Mormons experience their church membership. My results show a positive relation between sustained church participation and pre‐Mormon religious involvement that has points of crucial similarity.     

Adult sex role orientation and perceptions of aggressive interactions between girls and boys

We explored how the sex role orientation of adult observers related to their perceptions of boys' and girls' aggression. Sex-typed and androgynous undergraduate subjects viewed videotaped scenes in which one member of a girl-boy pair behaved aggressively toward the other. Unlike androgynous subjects, sex-typed subjects judged boys' aggression to be more intentional than girls' and proposed more severe reprimands for aggressive boys than for aggressive girls. Androgynous subjects recommended more severe reprimands for aggressive girls than sex-typed subjects did. Overall, sex-typed subjects differed from androgynous subjects not in their assessment of the degree of aggressiveness boys and girls expressed, but in their perceptions of the purposefulness of boys' and girls' aggression and how harshly to respond to it. We speculated that sex-typed subjects did not consider girls' aggression to be serious enough to warrant severe reprimands. Thus, during socialization, sex-typed adults perhaps model less aggression in response to girls' aggressive acts than to boys'. In addition, sex-typed adults may convey to girls that their aggression is not an effective means of obtaining adult intervention.     

Comparison of outcomes across low-intensity psychological interventions for depression and anxiety within a stepped-care setting: A naturalistic cohort study using propensity score modelling

Low-intensity interventions for common mental disorders (CMD) address issues such as clinician shortages and barriers to accessing care. However, there is a lack of research into their comparative effectiveness in routine care. We aimed to compare treatment effects of three such interventions, utilizing four years' worth of routine clinical data. Users completing a course of guided self-help bibliotherapy (GSH), internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) or psychoeducational group therapy (PGT) from a stepped-care service within the NHS in England were included. Propensity score models (stratification and weighting) were used to control for allocation bias and determine average treatment effect (ATE) between the interventions. 21,215 users comprised the study sample (GSH = 12,896, iCBT = 6862, PGT = 1457). Adherence-to-treatment rates were higher in iCBT. All interventions showed significant improvements in depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7) and functioning (WSAS) scores, with largest effect sizes for iCBT. Both propensity score models showed a significant ATE in favour of iCBT versus GSH and PGT, and in favour of GSH versus PGT. Discernible differences in effectiveness were seen for iCBT in comparison with GSH and PGT. Given variance in delivery mode and human resources between different low-intensity interventions, building on these findings would be valuable for future service provision and policy decision making.     

An investigation of neuronal integrity in severe paediatric traumatic brain injury.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and its association with neuropsychological functioning was examined in the chronic injury phase of paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fifteen children, aged 10-16 years, with severe TBIs were compared with 15 controls, matched for age and gender. The TBI group was found to have significantly lower levels of -acetyl aspartate (NAA) and Choline (Cho) in the right frontal lobe and generally displayed reduced performances on neuropsychological tests. A correlation between metabolites and reaction times was also obtained. Findings indicate a role of proton MRS as a measure of neuronal integrity following severe paediatric TBI and suggest a potential association of MRS with specific neuropsychological impairments.