Factors that affect action possibility judgements: recent experience with the action and the current body state

It has been suggested that action possibility judgements are formed through a covert simulation of the to-be-executed action. We sought to determine whether the motor system (via a common coding mechanism) influences this simulation, by investigating whether action possibility judgements are influenced by experience with the movement task (Experiments 1 and 2) and current body states (Experiment 3). The judgement task in each experiment involved judging whether it was possible for a person's hand to accurately move between two targets at presented speeds. In Experiment 1, participants completed the action judgements before and after executing the movement they were required to judge. Results were that judged movement times after execution were closer to the actual execution time than those prior to execution. The results of Experiment 2 suggest that the effects of execution on judgements were not due to motor activation or perceptual task experience-alternative explanations of the execution-mediated judgement effects. Experiment 3 examined how judged movement times were influenced by participants wearing weights. Results revealed that wearing weights increased judged movement times. These results suggest that the simulation underlying the judgement process is connected to the motor system, and that simulations are dynamically generated, taking into account recent experience and current body state.     

The Distinct Psychologies of “Looking” and “Leaping”: Assessment and Locomotion as the Springs of Action

Actions require two essential functions: assessment and locomotion. Assessment determines one’s goals and selects the means. Locomotion translates these into concrete behavior. In past work, assessment and locomotion have been portrayed as co‐ordinated and interdependent, or associated with different action phases. In contrast, we review recent theorizing and research that depict assessment and locomotion as autonomous and complementary. Recent evidence supports this conception for the behavior of individuals, groups, organizations, and cultures in reference to actions at different levels of analysis.     

When School Fits Me: How Fit Between Self-Beliefs and Task Benefits Boosts Math Motivation and Performance

We hypothesized that college students would engage more and perform better in math when the benefits of learning it were described in a manner that fit their self-beliefs, such as whether they view themselves as interdependent or as independent and unique. In three studies, fit predicted greater performance on math problems. Fit also predicted greater use of tutorials after answering problems incorrectly, and choosing to work on problems framed in the service of students' beliefs. Results highlight the potential power for strengthening math motivation and performance by creating a fit between the portrayal of math's utility and students' self-beliefs.     

Schizotypal and dependent personality characteristics and managerial performance

The study of negatively connotated personality characteristics as predictors of work‐related performance is gaining momentum. While findings have generally suggested such characteristics to be negatively or curvilinearly related to performance, the current study was concerned with investigating any positive relationships that may exist between negatively connotated personality characteristics (as measured by the Hogan Development Survey) and work‐related performance in a sample of 103 Australasian financial services managers. The most notable findings from the study were that: (a) schizotypal personality characteristics positively predicted performance on a creativity competency; and (b) dependent personality characteristics positively predicted performance on a customer focus competency. Findings and limitations are discussed.     

Examining the Role of Peer Influence and Self-Control on Downloading Behavior

In the Chilean school system, classrooms are stable settings and constitute a closed socialization context. Through multilevel analysis, this article examines the association between classroom composition and students' marijuana consumption. Under the theoretical assumption that social control mechanisms work into social learning peer processes, our results indicate that, as an imposed environment, the classroom may encourage or discourage marijuana use among students. The results suggest that individual marijuana use is strongly associated with school bonding and marijuana tolerance at the classroom level. The strength of these associations depends on the flexibility and stability of the classroom structure.     

The Relationship Between Self-Control,Witnessing Domestic Violence,and Subsequent Violence

The notion that violence begets violence is well accepted. Less clear are the precise factors that link together child violence and adult violence in an individual's life course. This study examines the role that self-control has in linking together exposure to violence in a child's life and subsequent violence in that individual's life. A telephone survey with 375 residents in Southeastern Virginia was conducted. Attention is given to whether those who saw their parents fight are more likely to (1) have a low self-control and (2) report having experienced violence either as an offender or a victim. Results suggest that witnessing violence is not related to self-control, and those who witnessed violence were less likely to have subsequent experiences with partner abuse. Further, we found that low self-control has a link with partner abuse. Implications for theory, policy, and future research are provided.     

The Impact of Negative Stimuli on Suicidality among Adulthoods: A Mediating Effect of Depression

ABSTRACT

Suicide is the leading cause of mortality in the world. The major factors of suicidal behavior are depressive symptoms. Using data from the Korean General Social Survey conducted in 2012, this study identified the causes of suicidality using general strain theory (GST). The total sample size was 1,396. The results showed that physical punishment and mental abuse experienced in childhood increased the mediating variable, level of depression, in adulthood. This study also found that suicidality was significantly associated with depression level. Furthermore, physical punishment and mental abuse had significantly direct effects on the suicidality. As a result, this study found that negative experiences before 18 years of age have an influence on later depression, which increases the likelihood of suicide. Also, this study strongly supported GST. Therefore, reducing the causes of depression during adolescent period would be a key strategy to decrease suicide risk during adulthood.