Parent–Adolescent Conflict in Teenagers with ADHD and ODD

Eighty-seven male teens (ages 12–18 years) with ADHD/ODD and their parents were compared to 32 male teens and their parents in a community control (CC) group on mother, father, and teen ratings of parent–teen conflict and communication quality, parental self-reports of psychological adjustment, and direct observations of parent–teen problem-solving interactions during a neutral and conflict discussion. Parents and teens in the ADHD/ODD group rated themselves as having significantly more issues involving parent–teen conflict, more anger during these conflict discussions, and more negative communication generally, and used more aggressive conflict tactics with each other than did parents and teens in the CC group. During a neutral discussion, only the ADHD/ODD teens demonstrated more negative behavior. During the conflict discussion, however, the mothers, fathers, and teens in the ADHD/ODD group displayed more negative behavior, and the mothers and teens showed less positive behavior than did participants in the CC group. Differences in conflicts related to sex of parent were evident on only a few measures. Both mother and father self-rated hostility contributed to the level of mother–teen conflict whereas father self-rated hostility and anxiety contributed to father–teen conflict beyond the contribution made by level of teen ODD and ADHD symptoms. Results replicated past studies of mother–child interactions in ADHD/ODD children, extended these results to teens with these disorders, showed that greater conflict also occurs in father–teen interactions, and found that degree of parental hostility, but not ADHD symptoms, further contributed to levels of parent–teen conflict beyond the contribution made by severity of teen ADHD and ODD symptoms.     

The phenomenology of fit: linking the person and environment to the subjective experience of person-environment fit

The authors distinguished 3 approaches to the study of perceived person-environment fit (P-E fit): (a) atomistic, which examines perceptions of the person and environment as separate entities; (b) molecular, which concerns the perceived comparison between the person and environment; and (c) molar, which focuses on the perceived similarity, match, or fit between the person and environment. Distinctions among these approaches have fundamental implications for theory, measurement, and the subjective experience of P-E fit, yet research has treated these approaches as interchangeable. This study investigated the meaning and relationships among the atomistic, molecular, and molar approaches to fit and examined factors that influence the strength of these relationships. Results showed that the relationships among the approaches deviate markedly from the theoretical logic that links them together. Supplemental analyses indicated that molar fit overlaps with affect and molecular fit gives different weight to atomistic person and environment information depending on how the comparison is framed. These findings challenge fundamental assumptions underlying P-E fit theories and have important implications for future research.     

Interrater reliability in clinical psychology oral examinations: a preliminary study

High interrater reliability was noted among academics evaluating students on a Master's level clinical psychology oral examination. There was greater concordance among more experienced academics, examiners from the same university department, and those in the same professional specialty.     

A mean for all seasons

The averaging of scores differs from the averaging of numbers in that behavioral issues are built into scores. The behavioral issues are the weight attached to a score and the metric on which the scores have been gathered. A single equation is proposed, derived from Aczél’s (1966) model of the quasilinear mean, that encompasses the standard measures of central tendency. The equation allows for differential weighting of scores and also addresses the metric issue by incorporating response transformation.     

Chronic and temporarily activated causal uncertainty beliefs and stereotype usage

In 3 studies, we examined the hypothesis that the effects of stereotype usage on target judgments are moderated by causal uncertainty beliefs and related accuracy goal structures. In Study 1, we focused on the role of chronically accessible causal uncertainty beliefs as predictors of a target's level of guilt for an alleged academic misconduct offense. In Study 2, we examined the role of chronic causal uncertainty reduction goals and a manipulated accuracy goal; in Study 3, we investigated the role of primed causal uncertainty beliefs on guilt judgments. In all 3 studies, we found that activation of causal uncertainty beliefs and accuracy concerns was related to a reduced usage of stereotypes. Moreover, this reduction was not associated with participants' levels of perceived control, depression, state affect, need for cognition, or personal need for structure. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the model of causal uncertainty and, more generally, in terms of the motivational processes underlying stereotype usage.     

Aftereffects for face attributes with different natural variability: adapter position effects and neural models

Adaptation to distorted faces is commonly interpreted as a shift in the face-space norm for the adapted attribute. This article shows that the size of the aftereffect varies as a function of the distortion level of the adapter. The pattern differed for different facial attributes, increasing with distortion level for symmetric deviations of eye height and decreasing for asymmetric deviations. These results are interpreted in terms of different coding ranges for the 2 facial attributes, arising from differences in eye-height variability in natural face images (large for symmetric, small for asymmetric). Neural models developed in low-level vision also are applied to facial attributes, contrasting a 2-pool (norm-based) and a multichannel (exemplar-based) model. The adapter position effects generally support a norm-based model, as did a finding that perception of stimuli further from the norm than the adapter was shifted in the direction of the norm, rather than repulsed away from the adapter.     

Relationships between Facets of Job Satisfaction and Task and Contextual Performance

This study examined the relationship between job satisfaction and task and contextual performance. Specifically, it assessed this relationship for overall as well as facets of job satisfaction. Four hundred and forty‐four employees in a manufacturing plant completed measures of job satisfaction and their supervisors completed measures of task and contextual job performance. Results indicate that the relationships between overall job satisfaction and task and contextual performance were the same. However, when the facets of job satisfaction were considered, different relationships emerged. There was a stronger relationship between satisfaction with supervision and contextual performance compared to task performance. In contrast, there was a stronger relationship between satisfaction with work and task performance compared to contextual performance. Results indicated the importance of considering different facets with the job satisfaction and job performance relationship, as well as the importance of matching predictors and criteria in terms of their levels of specificity. Cette étude examine la relation entre la satisfaction au travail, la tâche et la performance en contexte. Plus spécifiquement, cette relation a étéévaluée en envisageant la relation au travail de façon globale ou selon différentes facettes. La satisfaction au travail a été mesurée auprès de 444 salariés d’une usine de fabrication, la tâche et la performance en contexte ont étéévaluées par leurs supérieurs. Les résultats indiquent que les relations entre la satisfaction au travail envisagée de façon globale, la tâche et la performance en contexte sont les mêmes. Cependant, quand on distingue les facettes de la satisfaction au travail, des relations différentes émergent. Il y a une relation plus importante entre la satisfaction envers la supervision et la performance en contexte qu’entre la satisfaction envers la supervision et la performance. En revanche, il y a une relation plus forte entre la satisfaction du travail et la performance qu’entre la satisfaction du travail et la performance en contexte. Les résultats indiquent l’importance de trouver des indicateurs et des critères qui rendent compte de ces spécificités.