Using theory to evaluate personality and job-performance relations: a socioanalytic perspective

The authors used socioanalytic theory to understand individual differences in people's performance at work. Specifically, if predictors and criteria are aligned by using theory, then the meta-analytic validity of personality measures exceeds that of atheoretical approaches. As performance assessment moved from general to specific job criteria, all Big Five personality dimensions more precisely predicted relevant criterion variables, with estimated true validities of .43 (Emotional Stability), .35 (Extraversion-Ambition), .34 (Agreeableness), .36 (Conscientiousness), and .34 (Intellect-Openness to Experience).     

Depressogenic cognitive styles: predictive validity, information processing and personality characteristics, and developmental origins.

Two of the major cognitive theories of depression, the theory of Beck [Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: clinical, experimental and theoretical aspects. New York: Harper & Row. and Beck, A. T. (1987) Cognitive models of depression. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: an International Quarterly, 1, 5-37] and the hopelessness theory [Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, (1989) Hopelessness depression: a theory-based subtype of depression. Psychological Review, 96, 358-372], include the hypothesis that particular negative cognitive styles increase individuals' likelihood of developing episodes of depression, in particular, a cognitively mediated subtype of depression, when they encounter negative life events. The Temple-Wisconsin Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression (CVD) project is a two-site, prospective longitudinal study designed to test this cognitive vulnerability hypothesis, as well as the other etiological hypotheses of Beck's and the hopelessness theories of depression. In this article, based on CVD project findings to date, we review evidence that the hypothesized depressogenic cognitive styles do indeed confer vulnerability for clinically significant depressive disorders and suicidality. In addition, we present evidence regarding moderators of these depressogenic cognitive styles, the information processing and personality correlates of these styles and the possible developmental antecedents of these styles. We end with a consideration of future research directions and the clinical implications of cognitive vulnerability to depression.     

Learning to find the opponent: an ethological analysis of the behavior of paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis) in intra- and interspecific encounters.

In Experiment 1, 15 behavior patterns of male paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis; n = 72) toward a male conspecific, a male of another species, or no stimulus were recorded, both in home and novel situations. In Experiment 2, the same behaviors were recorded in a runway, and the same stimuli were used as reinforcers in the goal box (n = 18). A typical learning curve was seen when the subject found a male paradise fish in the goal box, learning was followed by apparent extinction when another species was found in the goal box, and few signs of learning were seen when the goal box was empty. Performance of the fish in both experiments can be accounted for by a strong aggressive motivation, a less strong but clear general curiosity, and habituation to the experimental procedure. In contrast to recent assertions in the literature, we conclude that aggressive behavior clearly can serve as a reinforcer in an instrumental learning situation.     

Differential effects of massage and heelstick procedures on transcutaneous oxygen tension in preterm neonates

The present study investigated the differential effects of heelsticks and tactile-kinesthetic massage on transcutaneous oxygen tension (TcPO₂) in preterm infants. The sample was comprised of 37 stabilized preterm neonates from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. During the heelstick procedure, TcPO₂ significantly declined an average of 14 mmHg. When compared to the tactile-kinesthetic massage, TcPO₂ levels during the heelstick (M = 39.8) were significantly lower than during the stimulation (M = 72.8). Mean TcPO₂ levels remained clinically safe during the four massage sessions evaluated. The TcPO₂ levels during kinesthetic stimulation were somewhat more varied, and movement and pressurization of the TcPO₂ electrode were investigated as possible artifactual explanations for this phenomenon. Overall, the findings indicate that social forms of touch such as tactile-kinesthetic massage do not appear to have a medically compromising effect on TcPO₂ in the preterm neonate. These findings are evaluated in relation to the “minimal touch” policy, and implications for future handling of the stabilized preterm neonate are discussed.     

On-line computerized career guidance

The background, rationale, and development of an on-line computerized career guidance system are presented. Special emphasis is placed on the relationship between the conceptual theory and the working design for the system.     

Responding to a positive stimulus by “satiated” pigeons

Skinner (1938) found that rats given discrimination training (Phase I) and then reinforced to “satiation” for responses in the presence of the negative stimulus (S?) (Phase II), began to respond again when the positive stimulus (S+) was reintroduced (Phase III). Experiment I replicated Skinner's finding with pigeons, alternating S+ and S? presentations during Phase III. In Experiment II, Phase II was extended, and Phase III results were similar to those of Experiment I, demonstrating that the recovery of S+ responding could not be attributed to a lax Phase II satiation criterion. In Experiment III, a uniform schedule of reinforcement was maintained throughout the three phases, and results similar to those of Experiment I were found, indicating that renewed S+ responding was not due to the shift in schedule between phases. In Experiment IV, Phase I consisted of discrimination training with two positive stimuli (S+_s and S+_n), and Phase II consisted of reinforcement for responses in the presence of S? and S+_s. During Phase III, significantly more responding was found to S+_s and S+_n than to S?, but no difference in responding was found between the two positive stimuli. In Experiment V, Phase I consisted of simple discrimination training, and during Phase II, responses in the presence of both S? and a novel stimulus (So) were reinforced. During Phase III, significantly more responding was found to S+ than to either S? or So, with no difference found between S? and So responding. Renewed responding to S+ during Phase III in the present experiments is best explained by behavioral contrast developed during Phase I.     

Structural and transient components of memory

The decomposition of free recall serial position curves into permanent and transient components (primary and secondary memory, Waugh & Norman, 1965) is widely accepted. In this paper, a hypothesis is proposed directly relating the permanent memory component to a vector quantity which reflects sequential allocation of attention during encoding. In conjunction with a previously published model for encoding and retrieval in free recall (Hogan, 1975), the hypothesis is shown to break down predicted serial position curves into permanent and transient components, in a manner analogous to but in various ways less restrictive than the decomposition proposed by Waugh and Norman.     

Pecking and feeding in chicks

Pecking is not controlled by nutritional state in a newly hatched chick, but by 3 days posthatch it normally is. This paper tests the hypothesis that first a chick must learn that pecking leads to ingestion; then, other (nonlearned) processes are automatically responsible for differential pecking rates to nutritive and nonnutritive items. The first experiment shows that experience pecking and ingesting sawdust is sufficient for differential pecking to develop. The second experiment shows that swallowing without pecking (using a force-feeding technique) does not lead to differential pecking. The third experiment shows that pecking without swallowing (using sand glued down to the floor) also does not lead to differential pecking. Finally, the last experiment shows that food deprivation affects pecking rate only after pecking and ingestion have been associated. These results support the above hypothesis that pecking followed by ingestion leads to the “attachment” of the pecking response to the feeding system. Motivational independence of pecking and the hunger system, the association of pecking with ingestion, and the development of behavior systems are discussed. It is concluded that the function of a behavior may not be related to its causes.     

Novelty responding and behavioral development in young,developmentally delayed children

This study examined whether or not a measure of information processing ability based on the discrimination of novel and familiar stimuli was related to behavioral development among developmentally-delayed infants. Two samples of handicapped infants were administered multiple measures of visual novelty discrimination and a battery of assessments which were representative of available measures of development in infancy. The results indicated that, as a group, the developmentally delayed infants were capable of discriminating novel and familiar stimuli. Also, correlational analyses indicated that responding to novelty was related to developmental accessment performance in both samples. This finding is consistent with previous data which indicates that novelty response measures are associated with important individual differences in young children.