Supervisor estimation of abilities required in jobs

The Minnesota Job Requirements Questionnaire (MJRQ) was developed and administered to supervisors of 11 selected jobs who rated the ability requirements of the job they supervised. The MJRQ represented each of nine GATB aptitudes by five items in a Likert-type format. MJRQ ratings were compared with expert ratings in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and Occupational Ability Patterns (OAPs) derived from administration of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). Reliability of MJRQ ratings was shown by high Hoyt reliability coefficients. Comparison of mean ratings and variabilities of ratings by supervisors in a job showed construct validity for the MJRQ approach, as did intercorrelations of MJRQ ratings. OAPs derived from the MJRQ compared favorably with those derived from the GATB and DOT, showing promise for the parsimonious MJRQ approach to the development of OAPs.     

Neuropsychological impairment as a consequence of football (soccer) play and football heading: a preliminary analysis and report on school students (13-16 years).

Footballers run the risk of incurring mild head injury from a variety of sources, including the intentional use of the head to play the ball, known as heading. This paper presents a preliminary exploratory analysis of data collected to examine whether cumulative incidence of mild head injury, or cumulative heading frequency, are related to neuropsychological functioning in male adolescent footballers. In a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design, neuropsychological test scores of school team footballers were compared with those of similarly aged rugby players and noncontact sport players. Cumulative mild head injury incidence was estimated using self-reports, and cumulative heading was estimated using a combination of observation and self-reports. No participants had sustained a head injury within 3 months of testing. There was no relationship between head injury and neuropsychological performance, and there were no decrements in either the footballers or the rugby players in comparison with the noncontact sport players. Within the footballers, cumulative heading did not predict any of the neuropsychological test scores. These findings indicate the absence of neuropsychological impairment arising due to cumulative mild head injury incidence, or cumulative heading. Although these null findings may be reassuring to players, parents, and football organizers, we stress that they are preliminary. Further data is being collected from the same populations to provide more reliable effect estimates.     

Body image change in obese and overweight women enrolled in a weight-loss intervention: the importance of perceived versus actual physical changes

Using the exercise and self-esteem model as a guiding framework, this study examined variables related to body image change among 88 overweight and obese women (M(age)=28.4±7.8; M(BMI)=31.6±3.5) participating in a 16-week diet and exercise weight-loss intervention. Measures of body image and potential mechanisms of body image change (actual and perceived physical changes, self-efficacy) were administered at baseline, Weeks 8 and 16. Body image improved significantly over the study time-points (ps<.001). Perceived physical changes accounted for most explained variance (12-37%) in body image change (total R(2)(adj)=.21-.50). Improved perceptions of body fat were a particularly important predictor in each model (ps≤.04). Results support the notion that to improve body image, perceived changes to the body are more important than actual changes. Such information is integral to developing theories to explain body image change and interventions to maximize it.     

Perceptions of Organizational Politics: A Meta-analysis of Outcomes

Organizational researchers during the past few decades have increasingly focused on the role of subjective work issues and their impact on important worker-related outcomes. One of the most prominently studied factors, perceptions of organizational politics, has received much recent conceptual and empirical attention. In an effort to better understand the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and key outcomes, we apply meta-analysis on 79 independent samples from 59 published and unpublished studies involving 25,059 individual participants. Results indicate strong negative relationships between POP and job satisfaction and between POP and organizational commitment, moderately positive relationships between POP and the outcomes of job stress and turnover intentions, and a non-significant relationship between POP and in-role job performance. Moderator tests show that age, work setting (i.e., public sector or private sector), and cultural differences (i.e., domestic sample or international sample), have contingent effects on certain POP relationships.     

Imbalanced word-reading profiles in eighth-graders

This current study introduced a new method to investigate the prevalence and correlates of significant imbalances in the relative accuracy with which eighth-graders read nonwords (e.g., prauma) and exception words (e.g., vaccine). Substantial proportions of students showed imbalanced word-reading profiles, but these were not strongly tied to differences in reading and spelling achievement. Of the students without reading difficulties, 19% had imbalanced word-reading profiles favoring exception words and 17% had imbalanced word-reading profiles favoring nonwords. Of the poor readers, 39% met the criterion for phonological dyslexia (with imbalanced word-reading profiles favoring exception words) and 14% met the criterion for surface dyslexia (with imbalanced word-reading profiles favoring nonwords) in relation to the eighth-grade benchmark readers, but the incidence of these types of dyslexia varied with verbal ability. Of the poor readers with normal verbal ability, 60% were classified as phonological dyslexics and none was classified as surface dyslexic. In students low in verbal ability, surface dyslexia was more common. However, when imbalanced word-reading profiles were defined in relation to fourth-grade reading-level controls, only 12 phonological dyslexics and 1 surface dyslexic were identified. Relatively few cases of either type of developmental dyslexia appeared to be "pure."     

A note on some modifications of latent roots and vectors

When an arbitrary positive scalar matrix is added to a correlation matrix the latent roots of the sum are equal to the corresponding roots of the correlation matrix plus an amount equal to the scalar number of the scalar matrix. The latent vectors of the sum are identical with those of the correlation matrix. An approximation to these relationships is suggested for the case in which the sum is of a correlation matrix and of a positive semidefinite diagonal matrix. The approximation is used to allow the solution of a characteristic problem for a correlation matrix with unities in the main diagonal to provide a family of solutions for the same correlation matrix.This research has been supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, MH 7864-01.     

Physiological changes during operations on the limbic system in man

The limbic system is a phylogenetically old part of the brain which is concerned with a variety of emotional and viscerosomatic functions. It has been found that small discrete lesions, placed by stereotaxis in this system during limbic leukotomy, may result in marked clinical improvement in severely incapacitated psychiatric patients who have failed to respond to any other type of treatment. In one patient, electrical stimulation of the anterior cingulate gyrus was carried out under local anesthesia to locate a suitable site for a limbic lesion. Physiological arousal was produced, as evidenced by changes in heart rate, forearm blood flow, sweat gland activity and respiration. Bilateral lesions, 8 mm in diameter, produced by freezing this site, resulted in marked clinical improvement. Peripheral physiological changes are now being used to aid in the selection of target sites in various parts of the limbic system. Under general anesthesia marked respiratory changes have been found on stimulation of the lower medial quadrant of the frontal lobe, anterior cingulate gyrus, above the roof of the lateral ventricle, and in the amygdala nucleus of the temporal lobe. Lesions are made with a cryogenic probe at sites of maximum physiological response. It is postulated that physiological monitoring during electrical stimulation of target areas will improve the accuracy of lesion placement. Some of the results of this procedure are described.     

Secondary school professionals' ability to identify depression in adolescents

Adolescent depression represents a growing concern for secondary school personnel. Depression is often related to suicide, which currently ranks as the second leading cause of death in adolescents. Since secondary school personnel should be able to identify characteristics of adolescent depression, the purpose of this study was to assess regular classroom teachers', guidance counselors', and special education teachers' ability to identify characteristics of adolescent depression. Results indicated that counselors possess the greatest knowledge of these characteristics, while regular and special education teachers are somewhat less able to identify them. Results are discussed in terms of training and evaluation issues for teachers.