Composite and preferences Scales of Morningness: reliability and factor invariance in adult and university samples

The creation and adaptation of scales or inventories assessing specific circadian typologies has been a predominant focus within the field of chronopsychology. The present study addressed the psychometric properties of two scales of morningness-eveningness: the Morningness Composite Scale (CS; Smith, Reilly, & Midkiff, 1989) and the Early/Late Preferences Scale (PS; Smith, Folkard, Schmieder, Parra, Spelten, & Almirall, 1993). Internal consistency and factor invariance of the CS and PS were analyzed in two samples: a group of 203 university students (age range = 19-30) and a group of 125 working adults (age range = 31-65). Results indicated satisfactory internal consistency for both full scales with each age group and confirmed the factor invariance across age for the two CS factors and one of the PS factors. A higher tendency in morningness on both scales was noted in the adult sample.     

Unconscious learning. Conditioning to subliminal visual stimuli

The role of consciousness in Pavlovian conditioning was examined in two experiments in which visually masked neutral words were used as the conditioned stimuli (CS) and an electric shock as the unconditioned stimulus (US). The inter-stimulus interval (ISI) was established individually. A detection threshold was used in Experiment 1 and an identification threshold in Experiment 2. The primary dependent variable was the skin conductance response (SCR). Results showed that the conditioned response (CR) was acquired by 58% of participants who perceived stimuli above the identification threshold, 50% of participants who perceived stimuli below the detection threshold, and 11% of participants who perceived stimuli below the identification threshold, but above the detection threshold. These results suggest that consciousness of the CS-US contingency is not a necessary condition for acquiring a CR of the autonomous nervous system (ANS).     

Complex span tasks, simple span tasks, and cognitive abilities: A reanalysis of key studies

There is great interest in the relationships between memory span tasks and cognitive abilities. However, the causes underlying their correlation remain unknown. In the present article, five key data sets were reanalyzed according to two criteria: They must consider complex span tasks (so-called working memory [WM] tasks) and simple span tasks (so-called short-term memory [STM] tasks), and they must comprise cognitive ability measures. The obtained results offer several points of interest. First, memory span tasks should be conceived from a hierarchical perspective: They comprise both general and specific components. Second, the general component explains about four times the variance explained by the specific components. Third, STM and WM measures are closely related. Fourth, STM and WM measures share the same common variance with cognitive abilities. Finally, the strong relationship usually found between memory span tasks and cognitive abilities could be tentatively interpreted by the component shared by STM and WM--namely, the capacity for temporarily preserving a reliable memory representation of any given information.     

Resilience and the burnout-engagement model in formal caregivers of the elderly

This paper investigates the relationship between resilience and positive/negative mental aspects of psychological well-being in formal caregivers for the elderly. The sample consisted of 265 caregivers who work in different residential homes in Extremadura and Castilla y León (Spain). The instruments used included the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale , the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The most significant findings show that caregivers with higher levels of resilience also have higher levels of professional efficacy and job engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption) and appear to be less emotionally exhausted or cynical than caregivers with lower levels of resilience. It cannot be concluded that more resilient caregivers will not get burned out, but they develop better engagement skills. As they strengthen these personal attributes, they become less vulnerable to burnout.     

Effects of task interdependence and communication technologies synchrony on performance in virtual teams

Effects of task interdependence and communication technologies synchrony on performance in virtual teams. Survey results of 197 employees from 41 work groups in a large multinational software firm were used to investigate the effects of within-group task interdependence and the degree of communication synchrony on performance in virtual teams (VTs). The analyses revealed a moderating effect of task interdependence on the relationship between the degree of communications synchrony and performance in VT. We found that superior VTs performance is contingent on the fit between the nature of the task (i.e., task interdependence) and the choice of communications modality. This study complements previous research providing additional evidence of how task-technology interaction affects VTs performance, and extends previous findings obtained with ad-hoc groups in laboratory settings to natural, organizational teams.     

Factorial structure and reliability of Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory

Time orientation is a fundamental psychological variable, what it flows all aspects of human behaviour. Past, present, and future orientation decomposed of allocated into different temporal frames the continual flow of behaviour, providing meaning and coherence. It has been proposed the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) so multidimensional measure of time orientation, which include positive and negative evaluation of past and present, as well as future evaluation. The factorial structure and reliability of ZTPI was analysed on Spanish adult population. The participants were 756 adults with age range 19-67 years old ( M = 40.1, SD = 15.45). The principal components analyses showed five factors, very similar to obtain on nort-american undergraduate samples, even thought a little difference in composition of the present-fatalist factor. The reliability of each factor was suitable. Age and gender differences analysis showed that older groups were more future oriented and less present hedonist, female were high orientation to past negative, past positive and present fatalist, while young females were more future oriented than older females.     

Analysis of the conceptual structure of natural and artifactual categories in Alzheimer's disease patients

This work has two goals, the first one is to study in detail the conceptual structure of some natural and artifactual categories, by using multidimensional scaling (MDS). According to our theoretical approximation, conceptual structure is composed of semantic features, and these features have different entities and nature. As an index of relevance in mental representation of semantic categories, we took the frequency of production of semantic features on a free verbal production task. Our second goal was to compare the structure of conceptual representations in two populations, healthy elderly and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, assuming that conceptual representation is impaired in this last population. We assume that the impairment in the conceptual representations of AD patients will show, when the disease reaches a determined level, loosing specific features. This impairment will have serious consequences in the whole conceptual structure.     

Identity and commitment in emergency teams

This paper adopts Tajfel's social identity theory perspective and applies it to the organizational context in order to study emergency intervention teams. Specifically, it is intended to explore the kind of social identification (professional, team, or organizational) prevalent among members of these organizations. It is intended, as well, to establish a clear distinction between two related, and often confused, concepts, i.e., organizational identification and commitment, and to discover which identification is more apt to predict the organizational outcomes of organizational citizenship behaviors and satisfaction. Our total sample consisted of 151 participants (firemen of the Madrid municipality and members of the army). It was found that organizational identification, as a kind of social identification, is different from organizational commitment, and that it is not its base nor one of its components, and that organizational identification, much as professional one, helps to explain peoples' behavior in organizations.     

Identification in organizations and its relationship with prototypicality and conflict between organizational groups

The scope and nature of the identification process of 282 workers representative of an important professional group of a university organization is analyzed in an attempt to ascertain if they identify mainly with their organization as a whole or with their professional group. A strong rivalry between the group object of the study and another professional group of the same organization manifests itself through a remarkable differentiation of group prototypes, which precludes the possibility of an overarching, supraordinate organizational identification. In addition, the degree of group prototypicality is related to the intensity of the negative attitude toward the rival group and can be taken as a predictor of a likely intra-organizational conflict.