Engaged,Committed and Helpful Employees: The Role of Psychological Empowerment

Although previous research has been focused on the relationship among personality, empowerment, and outcomes, little is known about the incremental effect of empowerment on positive work outcomes. This article aims at exploring the relation between personality factors (i.e., extraversion and conscientiousness) and positive work outcomes (i.e., work engagement, affective organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior), and at determining the incremental effect of psychological empowerment on these outcomes. A convenience sample from three organizations has been used for data collection (N = 258; 52% women, mean age 38.55 years, SD = 10.21). Hierarchical multiple regressions indicate that personality and psychological empowerment explain a significant amount of the variance in the positive organizational outcomes, and that psychological empowerment has a significant incremental value over demographics and personality for the studied outcomes.     

From Teachers’ Work Engagement to Pupils’ Positive Affect: a Weekly Diary Study on the Role of Pupils’ Autonomous Motivation

Applied Research in Quality of Life - The main purpose of the present study was to investigate whether there is a crossover effect from teacher’s general (trait-level) work engagement to...     

Target sparing effects in the attentional blink depend on type of stimulus

In a typical attentional blink (AB) experiment, recognition of the second of two serially presented targets is impaired if it occurs around 200-500 ms after the first. However, recognition for the second item is often intact if the two targets occur consecutively (lag-1 sparing). Recent theories of the AB have placed great emphasis on the presence of lag-1 sparing and protracted sparing effects, where accurate performance is seemingly maintained across three or more targets, provided that they are presented consecutively. Here, we show that the type of stimulus (objects vs. letters) used in rapid serial visual presentation streams has a significant effect on the extent of lag-1 sparing, without a commensurate influence on the AB. In addition, multiple consecutive targets produce strikingly different patterns of sparing for objects and letters. These findings suggest that the processes mediating lag-1 sparing are independent of those underlying the AB.     

The Applied Cognitive Psychology of Attention: A Step Closer to Understanding Magic Tricks

Drawing on psychological science, magic provides a unique perspective on applied cognition. Only sparse systematic research, however, documents the thought processes associated with viewing magic tricks. With responses from over 1000 participants, here, we show how individuals construe a classic magic routine wherein a performer appears to vanish a pen. Thirty‐four percent of participants correctly identified the key moment of the disappearance with only 11% thereof knowing what actions the magician actually performed to achieve the effect. Our collective findings support what magicians have known for a long time: knowing when a critical maneuver occurs hardly reveals the associated modus operandi. In line with a modern theory of attention, we discuss our results and highlight the interaction between the when and where attention modules as a necessary component of applied cognition in ecological settings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determinants and Predictive Value of Clinician Assessment of Short‐Term Suicide Risk

We examine the interrelations among clinicians' judgment of patients' suicide risk, clinicians' emotional responses, and standard risk factors in the short‐term prediction of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Psychiatric outpatients (n = 153) with a lifetime history of suicide ideation/attempt and their treating clinicians (n = 67) were evaluated at intake. Clinicians completed a standard suicide risk instrument (modified SAD PERSONS scale), a 10‐point Likert scale assessment of judgment of patient suicide risk (Clinician Prediction Scale), and a measure of their emotional responses to the patient (Therapist Response Questionnaire‐Suicide Form). The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale and the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation were administered at a one‐month follow‐up assessment (n = 114, 74.5%). Clinician judgment of risk significantly predicted suicidal thoughts and behaviors at follow‐up. Both the standard suicide risk instrument and clinician emotional responses contributed independently to the clinician assessment of risk, which, in turn, mediated their relationships with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Our findings validate the importance of clinical judgment in assessing suicide risk. Clinical judgment appears to be informed both by concrete risk factors and clinicians' emotional responses to suicidal patients, highlighting emotional awareness as a promising area for research and training.     

John Dewey and the Development of Education in Russia before 1930 -; Report on a Forgotten Reception

This article explores the kinds of response John Dewey(1859-;1952) received in Russia between 1900 and1930, and the impact he had on the educational debatethere. The study's main findings are: Both before andafter the Socialist October Revolution of 1917, Deweyhad a significant impact on the development of theRussian school system. The ultimate rejection ofDewey's pedagogy towards the end of the 20s was notdue to educational but to political and ideologicalreasons.