A Comparison of “Direct” Versus “Derived” Extinction of Avoidance Responding

The Psychological Record - To establish a series of derived relations between arbitrary stimuli, 20 subjects were exposed to nonarbitrary and arbitrary relational training and testing procedures....     

On the use of beta coefficients in meta-analysis

This research reports an investigation of the use of standardized regression (beta) coefficients in meta-analyses that use correlation coefficients as the effect-size metric. The investigation consisted of analyzing more than 1,700 corresponding beta coefficients and correlation coefficients harvested from published studies. Results indicate that, under certain conditions, using knowledge of corresponding beta coefficients to input missing correlations (effect sizes) generally produces relatively accurate and precise population effect-size estimates. Potential benefits from applying this knowledge include smaller sampling errors because of increased numbers of effect sizes and smaller non-sampling errors because of the inclusion of a broader array of research designs.     

Obligation, contracts, and negotiation: Outlining an approach

In this paper I outline an ambitious project to incorporate into a normative language the tools necessary for an account of hierarchical organizations and the changing roles and obligations of agents within them, and an analogous account of contracts and the changing roles and obligations of agents who are parties to contracts. While such an enriched language is likely to be considerably more complex than those most often considered for deontic logic, it promises for that very reason to enlarge considerably the range of normative problems that can be accurately expressed and effectively addressed.     

The optimal correction for estimating extreme discriminability

Discriminability measures such asd’ and logd become infinite when performance is extremely accurate and no errors are recorded. Different arbitrary corrections can be applied to produce finite values, but how well do these values estimate true performance? To answer this question, we directly calculated the effects of a range of different corrections on the sampling distributions of\(\hat d'\) and log\(\hat d\). Many arbitrary corrections produced better estimates of discriminability than did the intuitively plausible technique of rerunning problem conditions. We concluded that when it is not possible to run more trials and when other techniques are not appropriate, the best correction overall is to add a correction constant between 0.25 and 0.5 to all response counts, regardless of their value.     

The attenuating effect of role overload on relationships linking self-efficacy and goal level to work performance

The reported research examines the moderating effects of role overload on the antecedents and consequences of self-efficacy and personal goal level in a longitudinal study conducted in an industrial selling context. The results indicate that role overload moderates the antecedent effect of perceived organizational resources on self-efficacy beliefs. They also show that role overload moderates the direct effects of both self-efficacy and goal level on performance, such that these relationships are positive when role overload is low but not significant when role overload is high. Further, the results reveal a pattern of moderated mediation, in which goal level mediates the indirect effect of self-efficacy on performance when role overload is low but not when it is high. Implications for theory and managerial practice are discussed.     

Mentorship and the Female College President

Despite the increase in the number of women college presidents, the percentage of female college presidents is disproportionately low. Results of some studies imply that mentorship is one factor that facilitates women’s climb up the administrative ladder to the college presidency. This study was designed to examine mentoring relationships among female college presidents. A sample of 91 female presidents at selected independent colleges was surveyed about mentor and mentee relationships and demographics. Findings demonstrate that a majority of the respondents had primary mentors (56%) and also served as mentors (64.4%) to others. Mentorship and multiple mentoring relationships are invaluable in advancing women through the ranks of higher education administration and for increasing the number of female college presidents.     

Non-pharmacologic Interventions for CFS: A Randomized Trial

Non-pharmacological behavioral treatments for CFS have been suggested as promising. These trials have tested protocols composed of behavioral, cognitive and cognitive–behavioral interventions but there have been few efforts to differentially evaluate their outcomes. The primary purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of nurse delivered non-pharmacologic interventions. In the present study, 114 participants diagnosed with CFS were randomly assigned to four 6-month interventions. The interventions were: cognitive–behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, anaerobic activity, and a relaxation control group. The study found that these interventions led to increases in several areas of functioning, with more consistent changes occurring among those participants in the cognitive condition. For the 25 variables in this study, significant change occurred for 28%, 20%, 16%, and 12% of the variables for the cognitive, cognitive behavior therapy, anaerobic activity, and relaxation conditions, respectively. However, the majority of participants continued to be diagnosed with CFS following the treatment trial. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Processing resources in timing and sequencing tasks

Subjects performed timing and sequencing tasks under separate (single-task) and concurrent (dual-task) conditions in two experiments. The timing task required the subjects to generate a series of 5-sec temporal productions. The sequencing task in Experiment 1 involved verifying reasoning statements that described the ordering of a pair of letters. The task in Experiment 2 involved monitoring a familiar event sequence and detecting omissions in that sequence. Comparisons of single-task and dual-task conditions showed a pattern of bidirectional interference. In each experiment, the concurrent sequencing task caused temporal productions to become more variable and longer. The concurrent timing task interfered with sequencing by lengthening response times to the reasoning statements (Experiment 1) and by lengthening response times to sequence omissions and reducing sensitivity at detecting the omissions (Experiment 2). The results suggest that time perception and sequence perception are related cognitive processes that rely on a common set of attentional resources.     

On Doffing the Mask

J. Angelo Corlett’s response to Leigh Turner defends the current practice of anonymous refereeing in scholarly journals. In reply to him: a slightly refined proposal for signed referees’ reports, with temporarily blind refereeing, would restore to the process of publication, in philosophy at least, the sense of responsibility for rational debate, cooperation, mutual criticism, and simple courtesy which is expected among colleagues in public academic relations, and would also allow more credit for the difficult task for refereeing. Personal observation of the quality of referees’ reports suggests that a gathering of anecdotal evidence would show the need for reform.     

Comparative Effectiveness of Student and Professional Counselors

A sample of 160 beginning freshmen, half males and half females, received six and one-half hours of academic adjustment guidance from same-sex professional counselors. Upperclassman student counselors gave equivalent guidance to all other beginning freshmen at Southwest Texas State College. A matching sample of 80 men and 80 women was subsequently drawn from the 316 freshmen receiving student-to-student counseling. Age, sex, measured scholastic ability, measured study orientation, and high school academic achievement were employed as matching variables. The four professional and eight student counselors completed 50 clock hours of identical pre-counseling training, used identical guidance materials, and followed identical counseling activity sequences. Equivalent counseling facilities were provided for all counselors. Test, questionnaire, and scholarship data were employed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and acceptability of counseling given the professional counseled and the student counseled groups. Student counselors were found to be as effective as professional counselors on all criteria of counseling effectiveness. Furthermore, freshmen counseled by student counselors made significantly greater use of the information received during counseling, as reflected by first-semester grades and residual study problems. It was concluded that carefully selected, trained, and supervised student counselors provide a practical and productive addition to the college's guidance program.