Conceptions of career choice and attainment: Developmental levels in how children think about careers

Children’s Conceptions of career choice and attainment were evaluated in two studies to test whether reasoning levels varied by grade level (Studies 1 and 2) and perspective-taking complexity (Study 2). Results indicated that younger children (Grade K) were more likely to use reasoning strategies associated with fantasy and magical thinking and older children (Grade 6) were more likely to consider personal interests, abilities, and job requirements. Study 2 replicated these results and also found that children evaluated as able to use more complex perspective-taking reported higher reasoning levels when discussing their Conceptions of career choice and attainment.     

Rate, Probability and Matching: Comments on ��The Identities Hidden in the Matching Laws, and Their Uses�� by David Thorne

David Thorne's (2010) article, “The Identities Hidden In The Matching Laws, And Their Uses” performs a valuable service in pointing out alternative expressions of matching. However, some identities tend to obscure rather than illuminate empirical relationships. Three such problematic instances are discussed: interresponse time as a function of interval and ratio schedule parameters; probability equality as implying rate matching; the apparent simplicity of probabilistic functions, as opposed to response rate functions, of reinforcement rate.     

Rate, probability and matching: comments on "The identities hidden in the matching laws, and their uses" by David Thorne

David Thorne's (2010) article, "The identities hidden in the matching laws, and their uses" performs a valuable service in pointing out alternative expressions of matching. However, some identities tend to obscure rather than illuminate empirical relationships. Three such problematic instances are discussed: interresponse time as a function of interval and ratio schedule parameters; probability equality as implying rate matching; the apparent simplicity of probabilistic functions, as opposed to response rate functions, of reinforcement rate.     

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS TO HIGH WORKLOADS: IMPLICATIONS FOR WELL-BEING

We report a field study examining within-individual effects of workload on distress at work and daily well-being. The study was conducted using experience-sampling methodology to measure daily workload, affective distress, and blood pressure throughout and at the end of each of 10 workdays, and emotional burnout and daily strain (two indicators of low well-being) during the evening in a sample of 64 full-time employees who provided a total of 354 person-day data points. We also measured employees’ job control and perceived organizational support with a separate survey. Results showed that workload was positively associated with affective distress and blood pressure, and with the indicators of low daily well-being. Furthermore, affective distress mediated the relationship between workload and daily well-being. More importantly, job control and organizational support had cross-level moderating influences on the relationships of workload with affective distress and blood pressure such that these relationships were weaker for participants who reported having more control on their job, as well as for participants who reported receiving more organizational support.     

The temporal contiguity effect predicts episodic memory performance

One way to study the associative processes at work during episodic memory is to examine the order of participant responses, which reveal the strong tendency to transition between temporally contiguous or semantically proximal items on the study list. Here, we assessed the correlation between participants’ recall performance and their use of semantic and temporal associations to guide retrieval across nine delayed free recall studies. The size of the participants’ temporal contiguity effects predicted their recall performance. When interpreted in terms of two models of episodic memory, these results suggest that participants who more effectively form and retrieve associations between items that occur nearby in time perform better on episodic recall tasks. Sample code may be downloaded as a supplement for this article from http://mc.psychonomic-journals.org/content/ supplemental.     

Alcohol‐related violence defined by ultimate goals: a qualitative analysis of the features of three different types of violence by intoxicated young male offenders

Based upon a functional approach to understanding aggression, we aimed to identify the occurrence of and to describe the features of three types of alcohol‐related violence defined a priori by ultimate goals: (1) violence in pursuit of nonsocial profit‐based goals, (2) violence in pursuit of social dominance goals, and (3) violence as defence in response to threat. A sample of 149 young men with offences of violence that were alcohol related was interviewed. Cases were classified and detailed information from the first ten cases in each class (N=30) was subjected to thematic analysis. Intoxicated violence in pursuit of nonsocial profit‐based goals was opportunistic and motivated by the desire for more alcohol or drugs. Violence, in these cases, although serious, appeared to be brief. Intoxicated violence in pursuit of social dominance goals was typically precipitated by past or current insult or injury, and was accompanied by strong anger and an adrenaline rush. Attacks were ferocious, and robbing the victim was not uncommon, perhaps to inflict additional humiliation. Feelings of pride and satisfaction were typical and expressions of remorse were uncommon. Regarding intoxicated violence as defence in response to threat, attacks were often expected, and in some cases the respondent made a pre‐emptive strike. Weapon use was common in this group. Fear was experienced, but so too was anger. Feelings of excitement were not reported and remorse was common. Further validation of these types is warranted, and the potential implications of these findings for prevention and treatment are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 36:67–79, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The evolving systems approach to creative work

This study investigated the connection between drawing skill and artistic creativity in relation to age groups and levels of artistic involvement among 223 Chinese primary, secondary, and university students in Hong Kong. Based on the fantasy drawing task, visual-artist judges made expert judgments on students' drawing skill and artistic creativity. There was substantial correlation between drawing skill and artistic creativity among children, adolescents, and young adults, even when artistic involvement was controlled in the partial correlation analyses. The results of correlational and regression analyses suggested that drawing skill contributed most significantly to the prediction of artistic creativity throughout the years at different stages of development, but artistic involvement became more important, especially in young adulthood. Implications of the findings on the skill–creativity relationship for arts education and the directions for future research are discussed.     

Feedback in Response Recognition and Production

The role of feedback in the development of recognition memory was examined by testing pairs of subjects; one subject performed the movement while the other listened to the movement in an adjacent room. Both groups of subjects developed recognition memory during training with KR, and recognition performance was virtually identical for both groups. In addition, previous experience with the sensory consequences of the movement led to improved response production during initial trials. A possible mechanism to account for this finding is proposed. Appreciation is extended to Richard A. Schmidt and Anne Marie Bird for helpful comments in earlier drafts of this paper.