Uncertainty and Persistence: a Bayesian Update Semantics for Probabilistic Expressions

This paper presents a general-purpose update semantics for expressions of subjective uncertainty in natural language. First, a set of desiderata are established for how expressions of subjective uncertainty should behave in dynamic, update-based semantic systems; then extant implementations of expressions of subjective uncertainty in such models are evaluated and found wanting; finally, a new update semantics is proposed. The desiderata at the heart of this paper center around the contention that expressions of subjective uncertainty express beliefs which are not persistent (i.e. beliefs that won’t necessarily survive the addition of new information that is compatible with all previous information), whereas propositions express beliefs that are persistent. I argue that if we make the move of treating updates in a dynamic semantics as Bayesian updates, i.e. as conditionalization, then expressions of subjective uncertainty will behave the way we want them to without altering the way propositions behave.     

Parents,Siblings, or Friends? Exploring Life Satisfaction among Early Adolescents

This study analyzes 2,617 10–15 year olds surveyed in wave 1 of the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). Specifically, it tests the associations of three variables with life satisfaction among early adolescents: parent–child relationship quality, being a perpetrator or victim of sibling bullying, and being a perpetrator or victim of friend bullying. The results suggest that all of these social relationships have significant associations with life satisfaction, both individually and in combination. Of the three, parent–child relationship quality explained the most variance in predicting life satisfaction. This is followed by friend victimization (i.e., being bullied by friends), whereas the influence of sibling victimization is significant but not as strong. This study also tests the interaction effects between parent–child relationship quality, sibling bullying, and friend bullying. The association of parent–child relationship quality with life satisfaction is found to be stronger among adolescents who were either victims of sibling bullying or of friend bullying, highlighting the protective importance of parent–child relationship quality. Lastly, when testing whether the influences of sibling bullying, friend bullying, and parent–child relationship quality vary between male and female adolescents, this study finds some significant gender differences. Specifically, the positive associations of lower friend victimization and better parent–child relationship quality with life satisfaction are found to be stronger among female adolescents.     

Do Impression Management Scales in Personality Inventories Predict Managerial Job Performance Ratings?

Theorists have argued that impression management scales should predict job performance in jobs where interpersonal interactions are important. This research examined the correlation between impression management scale scores and overall job performance as well as its component dimensions for managerial jobs (one type of job requiring considerable interpersonal interaction). First, a meta‐analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between impression management scale scores and overall managerial performance. Results indicated that the correlation was .04 (k = 17, N = 20,069) for managers. Two additional studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between impression management and specific facets or dimensions of managerial performance. In one of these two studies, the relationships between impression management scores and supervisory ratings on 24 performance facets were investigated for 826 managers. Criterion‐related validities ranged from ‐.06 to .07. In the second study, correlations of an impression management scale with ratings on 22 dimensions of performance were examined using a sample of 257 executives. The validities ranged from .01 to .11. There appears to be little evidence that impression management scales predict job performance in at least one job category where interpersonal interactions are important (management). Potential relevance of these results for understanding social desirability in personality measurement for personnel selection is discussed.     

An improved video multiplexer for behavioral research

Wellens and Revert (1979) described a solid-state circuit that allowed two sources of video information to be multiplexed and recorded using one videotape machine. On playback, the demultiplexed video signal allowed the original video channels to be viewed independently on separate television monitors. Recent changes in videocassette recorder technology have improved the playback quality of recorded images but disrupt the demultiplexing process when freeze frame or search options are selected. Improved multiplexing techniques that overcome these limitations are described.     

DataVision: A computer-based system for generating and reading digital information accompanying video images on videotape

An Apple IIe-based system is described that generates both machine-readable and human-readable numbers for recording with visual information on videotape. Hardware and software components of the encoding system are detailed. An automatic decoding system that reads the numbers from videotape into computer memory is also described. Current applications of the system are briefly discussed.     

Role of Informal Integration in Career Advancement: Investigations in Plural and Multicultural Organizations and Implications for Diversity Valuation

The major question which this research examinedis whether informal integration is likely to result incareer advancement and perceived resources within twodifferent organizational contexts (plural and multicultural). Specifically, we examinedinteractions of race, gender, and organization type onthe above two outcome variables. In pluralorganizations, employees are expected to assimilate intothe dominant culture, while in multicultural organizations,cultural change for the individual and the organizationis reciprocal. Hypotheses were tested with a combinedsample of 101 men, 35 women, 29 persons of color, and 107 whites. Results indicated that,congruent with predictions, greater social integrationoccurred in an organizational context in which valuingdifferences was a priority. Further, the influence of informal integration on career advancement wasstill important even after controlling for suchvariables as age, organizational tenure, education, andhierarchical level within the organization. Implications of these findings for valuing diversity arediscussed.     

Memory for object locations: Priority effect and sex differences in associative spatial learning

This paper reports two experiments conducted to examine priority effects and sex differences in object location memory. A new task of paired position-learning was designed, based on the A–B A–C paradigm, which was used in paired word learning. There were three different paired position-learning conditions: (1) positions of several different objects (B-objects and C-objects) around referent objects (A-objects) were learned in the A–B A–C position-learning condition, (2) positions of several different objects with no referent objects were learned in the 0–B 0–C position-learning condition, and (3) positions of identical objects (stars) with no referent objects were learned in the 0-star 0-star position-only condition. The results revealed a significant priority effect on performance in the A–B A–C and the 0–B 0–C position-learning conditions but not in the 0-star 0-star position-only condition. Contradictory results were obtained with respect to the sex variable: a female superiority effect on paired position learning was significant in Experiment 1, but this effect was not replicated in Experiment 2. In addition, an articulatory suppression task used in Experiment 2 had a significant effect on recall of different object positions but no effect on recall of identical object positions. This suggested that verbal encoding was not necessary for learning of positions of identical objects.