Practical Computer Ethics (Book)

Do continuing education (CE) mandates increase participation in ethics programs and enhance their perceived outcomes? In a study of 5,198 North American psychologists, significant differences were found between mandated and nonmandated psychologists in relation to their participation in ethics programs but not in the perceived outcomes associated with those trainings. Although 64.3% of those psychologists operating under ethics mandates reported completing at least one ethics training within the previous year, only 40.7% of those without such mandates reported doing likewise. Overall, both groups tended to view their ethics training quite favorably in relation to its perceived outcomes, though they differed in relation to their endorsement of CE mandates. Results are discussed in relation to the ongoing development of evidence-based CE and its role in developing critical professional competencies.     

Rational decision‐making among male street prostitutes

This ethnographic study examines the lives of 18 young male street prostitutes. The focus of this study is to identify the benefits and liabilities associated with this activity by grounding the decision to engage in this behavior in a rational choice perspective. Benefits identified include financial gain, sexual pleasure, control of work schedule, and affection. The liabilities include fear of arrest, potential for violence, having sex with undesirable people, and not being paid for services rendered. This study demonstrates that the decision to engage in street prostitution is a complicated process that involves the weighing of the perceived benefits against the perceived risks.     

DEVELOPING STRATEGIC READERS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The goal of this paper is to examine the effect of strategic reading instruction in conditions not previously studied. The reading behavior of two third-grade classes of Navajo learners was tested over the course of a year. One class received instruction designed to foster the use of reading strategies; the second class did not. The results from the data collected suggest that strategy instruction positively affected the behavior of the students in the first class. This finding is of interest in that this form of instruction has not previously been utilized with the participants, Navajo learners, or in the small-scale context investigated here.     

Increased Error-Related Brain Activity in Six-Year-Old Children with Clinical Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are the most frequently diagnosed form of psychopathology in children and often result in chronic impairment that persists into adulthood. Identifying neurobehavioral correlates of anxiety that appear relatively early in life would inform etiological models of development and allow intervention and prevention strategies to be implemented more effectively. The error-related negativity (ERN), a negative deflection in the event-related potential at fronto-central sites approximately 50 ms following the commission of errors, has been consistently found to be larger among anxious adults. The current study sought to extend these findings to even younger individuals: the ERN was elicited by a Go/NoGo task in 48 six year-old children with a clinical anxiety disorder assessed by diagnostic interview and 48 age-matched controls. In addition to child anxiety disorder, the ERN was examined in relation to maternal history of anxiety disorder, which was previously related to a smaller ERN. Anxious children were characterized by a larger (i.e., more negative) ERN and maternal history of anxiety disorder was associated with a smaller ERN. Thus, the relationship between an increased ERN and clinical anxiety is evident by age 6, and this effect appears independent from an opposing influence of maternal anxiety history on the ERN. These findings support the ERN as a promising neurobehavioral marker of anxiety, and implications are discussed.     

A Little Goes a Long Way: The Impact of Distal Social Support on Community Integration and Recovery of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities

Although an extensive body of literature highlights the important role of social support for individuals with psychiatric disabilities, definitions of support tend to be restricted—focusing on intimate relationships such as friend and family networks and ignoring the role of casual relationships existing naturally in the community. This mixed-methods study of 300 consumers of mental health services in the Southeastern US aims to better understand the impact of community supports, termed distal supports, on community integration and recovery from mental illness. Qualitative content analysis, tests of group mean differences, and hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed the following: (1) participants primarily reported receiving tangible support (e.g., free medication/discounted goods) from distal supports rather than emotional support (e.g., displays of warmth/affection) or informational support (e.g., provision of advice); (2) women and older participants reported more distal supports than men or younger participants; and (3) distal supports played a unique role in predicting community integration and recovery even after accounting for the influence of traditional support networks. Results highlight the importance of considering diverse types of social support in naturally occurring settings when designing treatment plans and interventions aimed at encouraging community participation and adaptive functioning for individuals with psychiatric disabilities.     

Salesperson Selection,Training, and Development: Trends,Implications, and Research Opportunities

Building on the forces of change in selling identified in the introductory paper of this Special Issue of JPSSM, we identify and explicate trends, managerial implications, and research opportunities in two important domains of the selling field: training and development (TD) and selection. Part One focuses on TD of salespeople, and argues why a fresh perspective on salesperson TD is essential. Then, taking a knowledge, skills, and ability (KSA) approach, a framework for future TD content is proposed around three levels of KSAs: task-related KSAs, growth-related KSAs, and meta-KSAs. Part Two, on selection, focuses on several important predictors of salesperson success: cognitive ability tests, personality inventories, and biodata. Then, assessment methods are reviewed. Finally, we summarize with a discussion of emerging trends and research opportunities. The focus of the discussion is on both enhancing salesperson performance and affording scholars new research opportunities.     

Action video game experience affects oculomotor performance

Action video games have been show to affect a variety of visual and cognitive processes. There is, however, little evidence of whether playing video games can also affect motor action. To investigate the potential link between experience playing action video games and changes in oculomotor action, we tested habitual action video game players (VGPs) and non-video game players (NVGPs) in a saccadic trajectory deviation task. We demonstrate that spatial curvature of a saccadic trajectory towards or away from distractor is profoundly different between VGPs and NVGPs. In addition, task performance accuracy improved over time only in VGPs. Results are discussed in the context of the competing interplay between stimulus-driven motor programming and top–down inhibition during oculomotor execution.     

A psychobiographical analysis of Dambudzo Marechera's personal development through his writings

This study applied psychobiography to explore the personal development of Zimbabwean novelist Dambudzo Marechera – and particularly focus on psychological disintegration. For the evidence, we examined primary and secondary works on his life history with special attention to his literary works. Findings indicate that his early writings were autobiographical in nature, chronicling lived poverty, war and violence experiences. Later writings were somehow surrealistic and unstructured, marking a culmination of significant personal disintegration that started in early childhood. Other ancillary biographical evidence suggests self-perceptions as a cult-like figure, and what appears to be a limited social interest.     

THE EFFECT OF REPERTORY GRID SCALE SIZE AND RATING DIRECTION ON STRUCTURAL MEASURES OF DIFFERENTIATION

Previous work by Soldz and Soldz (1989) indicated that variations in repertory grid features can have a significant impact on the interpretation of the Landfield Functionally Independent Construction Score (FIC), which is a measure of cognitive differentiation. In this study, we showed that four different grid measures (FIC, Total number of zeroes, and the number of midpoint ratings used to indicate either equality or nonapplicability) can be effected by the use of a certain scale size (3-point, 7-point, 13-point), and by the direction of administration (completing the grid in a downwards direction vs. an across-wise direction). In addition, correlations between the number of zero ratings and the total FIC scores for each of the different scale sizes and directions showed evidence to support and to qualify previous work conducted by Soldz and Soldz (1989). In general, high positive correlations were found, suggesting the impact of zero ratings on FIC scores. But the magnitude of the correlations between the zero ratings and the total FIC scores varied as a function of the scale size, the direction of administration, and the meaning of the zero rating (neutrality vs. nonapplicability), raising theoretical, as well as procedural, considerations for future repertory grid research.