Effects of Job Conditions on Worker Perceptions: Ambient Stimuli vs. Group Influence1

This study identifies the direct effects of objective job conditions on individual perceptions of job conditions. The assumptions that (1) group perceptions mediate the relationship between objective job conditions and individual perceptions of job conditions, and (2) group consensus enhances the relationship be-between group perceptions and individual perceptions were tested. Respondents were white, male, blue collar workers (N= 1240) in a tire and rubber manufacturing plant. Work groups (N= 156), consisting of four or more men on the same shift, in the same department, and who had the same supervisor, were identified. Objective job conditions included work group size, pay style, shift, and job technology. Group and individual perceptions of amount of work-load, role conflict, responsibility pressure, and intrinsic rewards were measured. The findings indicated that objective job conditions have important effects on individual perceptions of stressful and rewarding job conditions. Smaller work groups, and jobs that pay on an hourly rather than a piece-work basis, allow for some control over the pace of work, and allow for interaction among fellow workers resulted in higher levels of intrinsic rewards and lower levels of workload, role conflict, and responsibility pressures. An intriguing pattern appeared where, in perceptions involving interpersonal relations, work group influence was relatively more important than objective job conditions. When assessing task oriented aspects of work, objective job conditions were more important than group perceptions.     

A reappraisal of Teresa of Avila's supposed hysteria

This essay offers a reassessment of Teresa's severe seizures which were such a characteristic feature of her mysticism. The diagnosis of hysteria is no longer viable, at the very least given its abandonment by clinicians. An alternative analysis is developed by phenomenologically comparing Teresa's seizures to parallel experiences of subjects in LSD-assisted psychotherapy. Using Stanislav Grof's categories, it is argued that Teresa's seizures are perinatal symptoms. As such, they represent the emergence and reintegration of extremely primitive psychological systems and might be described as the growing pains of transpersonal consciousness. They reflect not degenerative psychopathology but progressive movement toward higher states of consciousness.He has published articles in the fields of metaphor and the psychology of mysticism. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the national meeting of the American Academy of Religion in New York in 1982.     

Using interactive computing to expand intelligence testing: A critique and prospectus

Microcomputers can serve as automated testing stations for use in psychometric assessment. There are economic advantages in conducting aptitude and intelligence testing with such stations. It is possible to improve the quality of cognitive assessment by extending the range of cognitive abilities to be assessed? Two types of extension are considered; modifying and expanding testing procedures for psychological functions that are components of conventional tests, and the extension oof testing to psychological functions not generally assessed by conventional intelligence or aptitude tests. Computerized presentations will make relatively little difference in our ways of testing verbal comprehension. Computer controlled testing could well extend the ways in which we evaluate spatial-visual reasoning and memory. The impact of testing on the evaluation of reasoning is unclear. Computer-controlled item presentation makes it possible to conceive of tests of learning and attention, neither of which are evaluated in most psychometric programs today. The psychological nature of the abilities being assessed raises problems in assessment that are not addressed by the fact oof computer-control. Some research questions are identified that ought to be explored before testing is extended into these fields. Computer-controlled evaluation could be extended to the assessment of criterion performance, either in the normal working situation or in a simulation of the workplace. While evaluation of this sort does raise social questions, it clearly presents an opportunity to obtain validation data for psychological assessment studies.     

The borderline hypertensive rat (BHR): A new model for the study of environmental factors in the development of hypertension

While many studies have attempted to produce hypertension through the use of various environmental Stressors, few have succeeded in producing chronic elevations in blood pressure beyond levels considered to be borderline hypertensive (140–160 mm Hg systolic). The problem with most studies stems from the use of genetically normotensive animals and the selection of Stressors to which animals readily adapt. A new approach is suggested, which recognizes the role of genetics in human essential hypertension. Animals with one hypertensive parent do not develop spontaneous hypertension but show a more sensitive cardiovascular response to environmental Stressors than animals with normotensive parents. Preliminary studies revealed that animals with a mixed genetic history of hypertension develop spontaneous borderline hypertension. When subjected to shock-shock conflict, these borderline hypertensive rats (BHR) developed permanent hypertension that failed to abate even after a ten-week, shock-free recovery period. The hypertension was accompanied by elevated heart weight to body weight ratios and by significant cardiac pathology. Subsequent work has demonstrated that these animals also become hypertensive when fed a high-sodium diet. Finally, in a series of exercise studies, we found that BHRs subjected to a shock stressor were protected against stress-induced hypertension if they exercised daily. The potential of this model for studies of the mechanisms by which environmental variables produce permanent hypertension is discussed.     

Appetitive differential conditioning of the rabbit’s jaw movement response

Two experiments examined appetitive differential conditioning of the rabbit’s jaw movement response (JMR) in a two-phase procedure. The first phase entailed reinforced training with one conditioned stimulus (CS+), and the second phase involved intermixed presentations of CS+ and an unreinforced stimulus (CS?). In Experiment 1, CS+ was a 600-Hz tone, and CS-was either a 660-,1,000-, or 2,100-Hz tone. In Experiment 2, the magnitude of the water unconditioned stimulus (US) paired with CS+ was either 1, 3, or 9 ml. The experiments revealed that 1) the level of responding to CS-rose for several days and then declined over the remainder of training; 2) the physical similarity between CS+ and CS?directly affected the level of responding to CS?but had no discernable effect on the level of responding to CS+ ; and 3) US magnitude positively affected the level of responding to CS + and, to a lesser extent, CS?. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for Spence’s gradient interaction theory and Pavlov’s external inhibition hypothesis.     

Short-term memory processes in counting

Four experiments examined the memory processes used to maintain location in a counting sequence. In Experiment 1, subjects who rapidly counted forward omitted many repeated-digit numbers (e.g., 77), as found previously with backward counting. Subjects in Experiment 2 counted backward with normal auditory feedback or with headphones through which white noise was channeled. In both cases, repeated-digit errors predominated, suggesting that the contents of short-term memory, rather than auditory sensory memory, are checked during counting. In Experiment 3, subjects silently wrote counting responses, and the omission errors resembled those in vocal counting. Repetition errors were also found and attributed to phonological recoding failures. Articulatory suppression in Experiment 4 greatly increased the number of repetition errors in the written counting task. A model of the counting process was proposed according to which subjects keep track of their location in the counting sequence by monitoring phonologically coded short-term memory representations of the numbers.     

Nonprofessional counselors: Revisiting selection and impact issues

This study examined two issues related to the use of nonprofessional counselors (n = 159) within the context of a diversion program for juvenile offenders. First, the relationship of the nonprofessionals' personality traits and general attitudes to client outcome was examined. No statistically significant correlations were observed. Second, the differential impact of various training and supervision factors was examined in terms of nonprofessional satisfaction, attitudes, and locus of control. Results suggested that training intensity, training content, and supervision setting may influence nonprofessionals' attitudes towards various social groups and their satisfaction with the nonprofessional experience.     

Studying speech perception in adolescent school-age children by utilizing primary color perception

Since both speech and color have perceptual ramifications in language, the present study was developed to study speech perception through color perception. With the recent advances in perception generally and color perception specifically, this nontraditional approach to studying speech perception appeared reasonable. The 12 consonants utilized in this study generated 144 pairs of nonsense CV-syllables. The consonant ensemble was selected because it accommodated a maximum number of phonological features with a minimum number of phonemes. The 46 subjects, who were in junior high school with an age range of 11 through 14 years, responded to each of the stimulus pairs by assigning (associating) to it one of the six primary colors. Because of the perceptual orderliness associated with subjects' judgments, the results indicated that color can be used to study speech perception. Specific findings included the retrieval of sameness, fronting (or place), and voicing.This study is based on a master's thesis presented to the Graduate School, Tennessee State University in Nashville. The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the Speech and Hearing Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston.