Motor Processes in Children's Mental Rotation

Previous studies with adult human participants revealed that motor activities can influence mental rotation of body parts and abstract shapes. In this study, we investigated the influence of a rotational hand movement on mental rotation performance from a developmental perspective. Children at the age of 5, 8, and 11 years and adults performed a mental rotation task while simultaneously rotating their hand (guided by a handle). The direction of the manual rotation was either compatible or incompatible with the direction of the mental rotation. Response times increased with increasing stimulus orientation angles, indicating that participants of all age groups used mental rotation to perform the task. A differential effect of the compatibility of manual rotation and mental rotation was found for 5-year-olds and 8-year-olds, but not for 11-year-olds and adults. The results of this study suggest that the ability to dissociate motor from visual cognitive processes increases with age.     

Development of an instrument for measuring different types of cognitive load

According to cognitive load theory, instructions can impose three types of cognitive load on the learner: intrinsic load, extraneous load, and germane load. Proper measurement of the different types of cognitive load can help us understand why the effectiveness and efficiency of learning environments may differ as a function of instructional formats and learner characteristics. In this article, we present a ten-item instrument for the measurement of the three types of cognitive load. Principal component analysis on data from a lecture in statistics for PhD students (n = 56) in psychology and health sciences revealed a three-component solution, consistent with the types of load that the different items were intended to measure. This solution was confirmed by a confirmatory factor analysis of data from three lectures in statistics for different cohorts of bachelor students in the social and health sciences (ns = 171, 136, and 148), and received further support from a randomized experiment with university freshmen in the health sciences (n = 58).     

Transference in Psychological Testing

Transference as a theoretical construct within the conceptual framework of psychoanalysis is examined, pointing out the limitations this imposes on its use. After discussing why the term transference cannot be applied to psychological testing, the ways in which it has been misused are presented. The concept of externalization is introduced as an important means of understanding the structural dynamics of patients being tested, and its relevance to transference is stressed.     

A Semantic Differential Study of the Yin-Yang Symbol

The inherent meanings of the ancient and culturally significant symbol known as the Yin-Yang was investigated by having 242 students rate it on the Semantic Differential. The investigation further explored the meanings of the symbol as it might relate to Jung's controversial concept of the archetype. The results indicated that the qualities of the symbol supported the concept of the Yin-Yang archetype and, surprisingly, these were consistent with Jung's concept of the anima and animus.     

Predictor Validity as Related to Criterion Relevance,Restriction of Range,and Ethnicity

Among 139 Western Union operators, a job-oriented spelling test correlated highly (-.53) with spelling errors in messages. Findings were attributed to criterion relevance (the use of actual work samples) and to relatively good criterion reliability (.70). There was no evidence of single-group or differential validity. The spelling test also correlated significantly with the performance of new operators during training. A numerical test correlated significantly with training performance and with errors in messages sent by experienced operators. The trait of cooperativeness was significantly related to customer complaints. Emphasis was given to the importance of correcting for range restriction (and of developing relevant and stable criteria) to ascertain the true value of a predictor.     

The Accuracy of Behavioral Intention Versus Behavioral Expectation for Predicting Behavioral Goals

Researchers have largely overlooked the distinction between behavioral intention and behavioral expectation as predictors of one's own behavior. Moreover, the distinction between purely volitional behavior and behavioral goals, the latter of which may be impeded by such nonvolitional factors as lack of ability, lack of opportunity, habit, and environmental impediments, has also been blurred in the literature. Behavioral expectation is theorized to be based on a cognitive appraisal of one's behavioral intention and all other behavioral determinants of which one is aware. The present study argues and gives evidence that, although behavioral expectation and behavioral intention may have similar predictive accuracy for volitional behaviors, behavioral expectation is adequate, but behavioral intention may be inadequate for prediction of the accomplishment of behavioral goals.     

Sport type and interpersonal and intrapersonal predictors of body dissatisfaction in high school female sport participants

Through multiple group structural equation modeling analyses, path models were used to test the predictive effects of sport type and both interpersonal (i.e., mothers’ body dissatisfaction, family dynamics) and intrapersonal factors (i.e., athletic self-efficacy, body mass index [BMI]) on high school female sport participants’ (N = 627) body dissatisfaction. Sport types were classified as esthetic/lean (i.e., gymnastics), non-esthetic/lean (i.e., cross-country), or non-esthetic/non-lean (i.e., softball). Most participants reported low body dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction did not differ across sport types. Nevertheless, mothers’ body dissatisfaction was positively associated with daughters’ body dissatisfaction for non-esthetic/lean and non-esthetic/non-lean sport participants, and high family cohesion was predictive of body dissatisfaction among non-esthetic/lean sport participants. Across sport types, higher BMI was associated with greater body dissatisfaction, whereas greater athletic self-efficacy was associated with lower body dissatisfaction. These findings highlight the complex relationship between interpersonal and intrapersonal factors and body dissatisfaction in adolescent female sport participants.     

A computational model of visual stability and change detection during eye movements in real-world scenes

Visual cognition and change detection critically depend on attention and gaze. A central question is the exact involvement of attention in change detection. This paper proposes a detailed computational model to illuminate the nature of visual stability and change detection during eye movements. Consistent with experimental findings the model predicts that change detection at the saccade endpoint is relatively easy. According to our model the planning of an eye movement provides an enhanced sensory processing of an object at the saccade target. This facilitates the memorization of that object. A comparison of the memorized target template with the representation after saccade allows for change detection. We hypothesize that the spatial reentry signal that emerges from planning an eye movement could be a crucial neural basis of visual stability.     

Personal responsibility,empowerment and medical utilization: a theoretical framework for considering counselling and offset costs

The problem of effectively managing patients with functional somatic symptoms remains huge in both primary and hospital care, although the potential benefits of mental health interventions such as counselling or psychotherapy are still not widely accepted. Unfortunately, the cost-effective evaluation of counselling has been beset by methodological problems, which stem from attempting to make comparisons between counsellors with different types of training, therapeutic approach and case mix. Since these real-world variations in counselling practice are likely to remain, it is proposed that a different approach to the evaluation of cost-effectiveness should be adopted in the hope of accelerating acceptance of the value of psychological interventions for the army of patients who are currently labelled as ‘difficult’ or ‘heartsink’ and who do not receive the treatment they deserve from the health-care services. It is proposed that, since the common aim of almost all mental health interventions is to engender or enhance a sense of ‘personal responsibility’ in patients/clients, this core objective should form an agreed ‘yardstick’ against which to evaluate the impact of various mental health interventions. Furthermore, since personal responsibility and future health-care utilization (and associated costs) can be assumed to be directly causally related, it is proposed that offset costs should form the basis for future cost-effectiveness evaluations.     

W&O Psychology in Europe

The role of personality traits in the decision to start a business and to maintain it successfully is discussed controversially in entrepreneurship research. Our meta-analysis builds upon and extends earlier meta-analyses by doing a full analysis of personality traits that includes a comparison of different traits from a theoretical perspective and by analysing a full set of personality predictors for both start-up activities as well as success. Theoretically, our article adds to the literature by matching traits to the tasks of entrepreneurs. The results indicate that traits matched to the task of running a business produced higher effect sizes with business creation than traits that were not matched to the task of running an enterprise, corrected r = .247, K = 47, N = 13,280, and corrected r = .124, K = 20, N = 3975, respectively. Moreover, traits matched to the task produced higher correlations with success, corrected r = .250, K = 42, N = 5607, than traits not matched to the task of running a business, corrected r = .028, K = 13, N = 2777. The traits matched to entrepreneurship significantly correlated with entrepreneurial behaviour (business creation, business success) were need for achievement, generalized self-efficacy, innovativeness, stress tolerance, need for autonomy, and proactive personality. These relationships were of moderate size in general and, moreover, heterogeneity suggested that future research should analyse moderator variables.