Acquisition and retention in compound matching with hue and peck number elements

Pigeons learned and retained compound samples composed of hue (red vs. green) and peck number value [fixed-ratio (FR) 5 vs. FR 20] in a modified matching-to-sample (MTS) task. For different groups both FR and hue were relevant, or hue alone or FR value alone were relevant. Both acquisition and short-term retention of the samples were assessed. The rate of acquisition differed among the groups, with hue/FR > hue > FR. For groups hue/FR and hue, sample FR influenced the rate of learning, with larger sample FRs promoting faster learning. Sample FR also influenced working memory. When both hue and sample FR were relevant, and when FR alone was relevant, pigeons displayed better retention of the smaller (FR 5) sample—the “choose-small” effect. This dissociation of sample FR effects during acquisition and retention could be taken to indicate differences in the sources of immediate and delayed stimulus control.     

The temporal dynamics of global-to-local feedback in the formation of hierarchical motion patterns: psychophysics and computational simulations

Four motion quartets, each ambiguous with respect to the perception of parallel-path horizontal or vertical motion, were arranged in a diamond configuration. Both global parallel-path motion (the same motion axis for all the quartets), which is typical for multiquartet stimuli, and global rotational rocking are perceived. Experiment 1 indicated that rotational rocking is established at different levels of processing. Globally, larger displacements of each quartet's elements increase the angle of rotation and, thereby, the perception of rotational rocking. Locally, larger displacements have the opposite effect, weakening motion percepts. Experiment 2 showed that global-to-local feedback affects the local perception of rotation-consistent versus rotation-inconsistent motion directions. Experiment 3 provided evidence for hysteresis effects indicative of competition between global rotational rocking and parallel-path motion. The experimental results were simulated by a two-level dynamical model incorporating global-to-local feedback, with recurrent feedforward/feedback loops creating detection instabilities that amplify activation at both global and local levels of the rotational-rocking pattern.     

Dynamic field theory of movement preparation

A theoretical framework for understanding movement preparation is proposed. Movement parameters are represented by activation fields, distributions of activation defined over metric spaces. The fields evolve under the influence of various sources of localized input, representing information about upcoming movements. Localized patterns of activation self-stabilize through cooperative and competitive interactions within the fields. The task environment is represented by a 2nd class of fields, which preshape the movement parameter representation. The model accounts for a sizable body of empirical findings on movement initiation (continuous and graded nature of movement preparation, dependence on the metrics of the task, stimulus uncertainty effect, stimulus-response compatibility effects, Simon effect, precuing paradigm, and others) and suggests new ways of exploring the structure of motor representations.     

Work-Life Boundaries and Well-Being: Does Work-to-Life Integration Impair Well-Being through Lack of Recovery?

Against the backdrop of increasingly blurred boundaries between work and nonwork, the purpose of this study was to investigate the implications of employees’ work-to-life boundary enactment for well-being. Using border/boundary theory (as reported by Ashforth, Kreiner, & Fugate (Academy of Management Review 25(3):472–491, 2000) and Clark (Human Relations 54(6):747–770, 2000)) and the effort-recovery model (as reported by Meijman & Mulder (Handbook of work and organizational psychology vol. 2 55–53, 1998)), we developed a research model that links work-to-life integration enactment to exhaustion and impaired work-life balance via lack of recovery activities (as reported by Sonnentag, Journal of Applied Psychology 88(3):518–528, 2003). The model was tested using structural equation modeling. Our sample consisted of N = 1916 employees who were recruited via an online panel service. Results showed that employees who scored high on work-to-life integration enactment reported less recovery activities and in turn were more exhausted and experienced less work-life balance. Our study contributes to the existing literature on boundary management by investigating the well-being implications of work-to-life boundary enactment and by suggesting and testing recovery as an underlying mechanism. In doing so, we link boundary enactment with existing theory of the work-life interface. Based on our review of existent research on boundary management and well-being, we disentangle previous contradictory findings. Understanding of the well-being implications of boundary enactment and underlying mechanisms can help human resource professionals and practitioners to devise and implement organizational policies and interventions that enable employees to develop boundary management strategies that are sustainable in that they do not impair employees’ well-being.     

The consequences of job crafting: a three-wave study

This longitudinal study examined the consequences of job crafting on two important employee outcomes: psychological capital (PsyCap) as a work-related personal resource and work engagement as an indicator of employee well-being. The study also tested the reverse causation effects of PsyCap and work engagement on job crafting. It used a three-wave, three-month panel design to survey 940 employees from three European countries working in a broad range of economic sectors and occupations. The results of the cross-lagged longitudinal structural equation modelling demonstrated that job crafting predicted PsyCap and work engagement over time. No reverse causation effects were found. Overall, this study shows that when individuals proactively build a resourceful and challenging work environment for themselves, it can lead to diverse positive outcomes that are crucial to employee health and well-being. Employees should therefore be encouraged and be given the opportunity to craft their own jobs.     

Smoking motives in the prediction of affective vulnerability among young adult daily smokers

The primary aim of this study was to examine whether smoking to reduce negative affect was uniquely related to a range of affective vulnerability factors (e.g., anxiety sensitivity, anxious arousal, and negative affectivity) among daily smokers. Participants were 276 young adult daily smokers (124 females; M(age)=25.12, SD=10.37). Partially consistent with prediction, the motivation to smoke to reduce negative affect was significantly related to anxiety sensitivity and negative affectivity, but not anxious arousal; the observed significant effects were above and beyond other theoretically relevant factors (e.g., smoking rate, years smoked, age, gender). In contrast to prediction, habitual smoking motives demonstrated significant incremental associations with anxiety sensitivity and anxious arousal symptoms. These results suggest that there are important associations between certain smoking motives and negative affective states and that such relations are not attributable to other smoking factors (e.g., smoking rate).     

Deconfounding the effects of congruency and task difficulty on hemispheric differences in global/local processing

Although it is often assumed that the left and right cerebral hemispheres are specialized for local and global processing, respectively, recent studies show that this difference mainly occurs if the responses to the two levels of a stimulus are conflicting. In the present study we examined whether the favorable effect of response conflicts is caused by the increased task difficulty in this situation. To this end, the response selection for nonconflicting stimuli was complicated by frequently changing the stimulus-response mappings. As a result, the reactions to nonconflicting stimuli were as slow as those to conflicting ones. Nevertheless, hemispheric differences were again restricted to the latter situation. This shows that increased task difficulty can not explain the modulating effect of response conflicts. The results support the alternative hypothesis that different representations are needed for the response selection for nonconflicting and conflicting stimuli, and that the hemispheres differ only with respect to the latter.