Specific Aptitude Theory Revisited: Is There Incremental Validity for Training Performance?

There has been controversy over the years about whether specific mental abilities increment validity for predicting performance above and beyond the validity for general mental ability (GMA). Despite its appeal, specific aptitude theory has received only sporadic empirical support. Using more exact statistical and measurement methods and a larger data set than previous studies, this study provides further evidence that specific aptitude theory is not tenable with regard to training performance. Across 10 jobs, differential weighting of specific aptitudes and specific aptitude tests were found not to improve the prediction of training performance over the validity of GMA. Implications of this finding for training research and practice are discussed.     

The Association Between Self-Control and Hoarding: A Case Report

The capacity to exert control over one's behavior is known as self-control, and this ability to self-regulate is a necessary component for directing personal behavior toward achieving a specific goal. Baumeister and colleagues have suggested that self-control operates within a resource model such that an individual may strengthen this resource through directed practice. Hoarding is one syndrome wherein self-control may play a substantial role. Within a translational research framework, two separate case studies sought to determine if practicing self-control in a non-hoarding-related domain might have an impact on an individual's hoarding symptoms and their readiness for treatment. Two individuals diagnosed with hoarding were enrolled in a self-control practice condition. Both self-control levels and hoarding symptoms were measured at pre– and post–time points using self-report and behavioral indices. Findings in support of a favorable effect of self-control on mitigating behavioral hoarding symptoms were mixed, with 1 patient experiencing marked improvement in symptoms and the other not. We also found that self-control practice was associated with both increased motivation for treatment and overall level of self-awareness. The implications of self-control for hoarding are discussed from a disease-reduction and prevention standpoint, along with the role self-control might play within more traditional cognitive behavioral interventions.     

Interactive effects of emotional dissonance and self-control demands on burnout, anxiety, and absenteeism

Two specific sources of stress at work have recently received increasing attention in organizational stress research: emotional dissonance (ED) and self-control demands (SCDs). Both theoretical arguments and experimental findings in basic research strongly suggest that ED and different SCDs draw on a common limited regulatory resource. Consequently, both kinds of stressors should exert interactive effects on indicators of job strain and well-being. Drawing on two German samples (total N = 586), we tested this prediction by examining the interaction effects of ED and different dimensions of SCDs on burnout, anxiety, and absence behavior. Latent moderated structural equation modeling provided support for the hypothesized interactive effects of ED and dimensions of SCDs in predicting burnout, anxiety, and absence behavior. More specifically, with each pair of stressors the effects of one stressor were found to be amplified by the other. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications of our results.     

Prescribed spatial prepositions influence how we think about time

Prepositions combine with nouns flexibly when describing concrete locative relations (e.g. at/on/in the school) but are rigidly prescribed when paired with abstract concepts (e.g. at risk; on Wednesday; in trouble). In the former case they do linguistic work based on their discrete semantic qualities, and in the latter they appear to serve a primarily grammatical function. We used the abstract concept of time as a test case to see if specific grammatically prescribed prepositions retain semantic content. Using ambiguous questions designed to interrogate one’s meaningful representation of temporal relations, we found that the semantics of prescribed prepositions modulate how we think about time. Although prescribed preposition use is unlikely to be based on a core representational organization shared between space and time, results demonstrate that the semantics of particular locative prepositions do constrain how we think about paired temporal concepts.     

On the Role of Biomedical Knowledge in Clinical Reasoning by Experts,Intermediates and Novices

In two studies the role of biomedical knowledge in the diagnosis of clinical cases was explored. Experiment 1 demonstrated a decrease in the use of biomedical knowledge with increasing expertise. This result appeared to be at variance with some findings reported in the literature (e.g., Lesgold, 1984), but supported those of others (e.g., Patel, Evans, & Groen, 1989). In Experiment 2, three possible explanations for this phenomenon were investigated: (1) rudimentation of biomedical knowledge, (2) inertia, and (3) encapsulation of biomedical knowledge under higher order concepts. Using a combined think-aloud and post-hoc explanation methodology, it was shown that experts have more in-depth biomedical knowledge than novices and subjects at intermediate levels of expertise. The findings generally support a three-stage model of expertise development in medicine consisting of acquisition of biomedical knowledge, practical experience, and integration of theoretical and experiental knowledge resulting in knowledge encapsulation.     

Assessment and validation of diagnostic interviewing skills for the mental health professions

A behavioral test was developed to assess the quality of diagnostic interviewing skills of (future) mental health professionals. Two aspects of diagnostic interviewing ability are distinguished: process skills, reflecting the interpersonal and communication skills; and content skills, referring to the information-gathering ability of the interviewer. It was found that diagnostic interviewing can be reliably measured with respect to interrater reliability. However, interviewer performance on one case proved to be a poor predictor of performance on other cases. It was concluded that a large number of cases is required to obtain reliable scores of general diagnostic interviewing ability. Validity was supported by the correlational analyses. Process skills were strongly related to patient satisfaction, whereas content skills were related to the amount of relevant information given by the patient and the accuracy of the diagnostic formulation and treatment plan.