Integrating turnover reasons and shocks with turnover decision processes

We interviewed and classified 186 quitters from many jobs and organizations via a theoretically-based protocol into five decision process types. We then tested exploratory hypotheses comparing users of these types on their propensity to report certain turnover reasons and turnover shocks. “Impulsive-type quitters,” with neither a job offer in hand nor turnover plan when they quit, reported poor management, work stress, and family demands as frequent turnover reasons, with manager conflicts and family events as frequent shocks. “Comparison quitters,” who had a job offer in hand and no plan, reported pay and advancement opportunities as top reasons with information about an alternative job being the most frequent shock. “Preplanned quitters,” who had a definite plan to quit well in advance, reported relocation and life/career changes as frequent reasons, with increasing family demand, relocation, and school starting as frequent shocks. “Satisficing quitters,” who made a plan conditional on getting an acceptable job offer, reported pay, poor management, work responsibilities, and work schedules as frequent reasons. Implications of these and other findings are discussed.     

An integrated approach to delivering exposure-based treatment for symptoms of PTSD and depression in OIF/OEF veterans: preliminary findings

Combat-exposed military personnel from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan report high rates of PTSD and associated psychiatric problems. A formidable body of research supports exposure therapy as a front-line intervention for PTSD; however, relative to studies of civilians, fewer investigations have evaluated the effectiveness of exposure therapy using military samples. Specifically, barriers to care (e.g., stigma associated with receiving mental health services ) may compromise utilization of evidence-based psychotherapy. As such, researchers have argued that veterans with PTSD may require an integrated and innovative approach to the delivery of exposure techniques. This paper presents the rationale for and preliminary data from an ongoing clinical trial that compares the home-based telehealth (HBT) application of a brief, behavioral treatment (Behavioral Activation and Therapeutic Exposure; BA-TE) for veterans with PTSD to the standard, in-person application of the same treatment. Forty OIF/OEF veterans with PTSD and MDD were consented, enrolled, and randomized to condition (BA-TE in-person, or BA-TE HBT) and symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed at pre- and posttreatment. Participants in both conditions experienced reductions in depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms between pre- and posttreatment, suggesting that HBT application of an integrated PTSD treatment may be feasible and effective.     

Unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: a randomized controlled trial

This study further evaluates the efficacy of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP). A diagnostically heterogeneous clinical sample of 37 patients with a principal anxiety disorder diagnosis was enrolled in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving up to 18 sessions of treatment and a 6-month follow-up period. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either immediate treatment with the UP (n=26) or delayed treatment, following a 16-week wait-list control period (WLC; n=11). The UP resulted in significant improvement on measures of clinical severity, general symptoms of depression and anxiety, levels of negative and positive affect, and a measure of symptom interference in daily functioning across diagnoses. In comparison, participants in the WLC condition exhibited little to no change following the 16-week wait-list period. The effects of UP treatment were maintained over the 6-month follow-up period. Results from this RCT provide additional evidence for the efficacy of the UP in the treatment of anxiety and comorbid depressive disorders, and provide additional support for a transdiagnostic approach to the treatment of emotional disorders.     

125 years of perceptual-motor skill research

This article celebrates the contribution that the American Journal of Psychology (AJP) has made to the area of perceptual-motor skill over its 125-year history. We highlight the articles published in AJP and trace the technical and theoretical developments that stem from this groundbreaking work. Included in our overview are AJP articles on the excitability of the motor system, motor learning, adaptation to visual rearrangement, the ecological approach to perception and action, and the measurement of human handedness. We conclude by identifying a number of areas associated with perceptual-motor skill where AJP continues to make an important contribution.     

Constraints on arm selection processes when reaching: degrees of freedom and joint amplitudes interact to influence limb selection

With an interest in identifying the variables that constrain arm choice when reaching, the authors had 11 right-handed participants perform free-choice and assigned-limb reaches at 9 object positions. The right arm was freely selected 100% of the time when reaching to positions at 30° and 40° into right hemispace. However, the left arm was freely selected to reach to positions at -30° and -40° in left hemispace 85% of the time. A comparison between free- and assigned-limb reaching kinematics revealed that free limb selection when reaching to the farthest positions was constrained by joint amplitude requirements and the time devoted to limb deceleration. Differences between free- and assigned-arm reaches were not evident when reaching to the midline and positions of ±10°, even though the right arm was freely selected most often for these positions. Different factors contribute to limb selection as a function of distance into a specific hemispace.     

Depression, autonomic function, and cardiorespiratory fitness: comment on Hughes, et al. (2010)

A recent paper by Hughes and colleagues suggested that dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system in depressed cardiac patients was partly explained by reduced physical activity and fitness. Other data demonstrate that exercise training and improvements in fitness not only lead to improvements in autonomic function in coronary patients but also reduce depression and depression-related increased mortality.     

Reichenbach’s cubical universe and the problem of the external world

This paper is a sympathetic critique of the argument that Reichenbach develops in Chap. 2 of Experience and Prediction for the thesis that sense experience justifies belief in the existence of an external world. After discussing his attack on the positivist theory of meaning, I describe the probability ideas that Reichenbach presents. I argue that Reichenbach begins with an argument grounded in the Law of Likelihood but that he then endorses a different argument that involves prior probabilities. I try to show how this second step in Reichenbach’s approach can be strengthened by using ideas that have been developed recently for understanding causation in terms of the idea of intervention.     

Process timing and its relation to the coding of tonal harmony

Advances in auditory research suggest that gamma-band synchronization of frequency-specific cortical loci could be responsible for the integration of pure tones (harmonics) into harmonic complex tones. Thus far, evidence for such a mechanism has been revealed in neurophysiological studies, with little corroborative psychophysical evidence. In six experiments, we observed a rate- and time-specific response-time advantage for a sequence of target pips when the defining frequency of the target was a fractional multiple of a priming frequency. The effect was only observed when the prime and target sequences were presented at 33 pips per second and when the interstimulus interval was approximately 100 and 250 ms. This evidence implicates oscillatory gamma-band activity in the representation of harmonic complex tones and suggests that synchronization with precise temporal characteristics is important for disambiguating related harmonic templates. An outline of a model is presented, which accounts for these findings in terms of fast resynchronization of relevant neuronal assemblies.     

Jandu Yani U (for all families): Tailored Triple P Training and Support Promote Empowerment in Remote Aboriginal Communities

Journal of Child and Family Studies - To enhance the accessibility and acceptability of evidence-based parenting programs in Indigenous communities, there is a need to build a confident and skilled...